Carnegie Politika Podcast

Podcast host Alexander Gabuev discusses what the next few months may have in store together with Dara Massicot, senior policy researcher at the RAND Corporation, and Mark Galeotti, CEO of Mayak Intelligence. As the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine approaches, Ukraine is set to receive Western battle tanks, while Russia is believed to be planning a new offensive. What military developments can we expect to see in the next few months? What impact will the Western tanks have on Ukraine’s capabilities, and why has the West only agreed to supply them now? What do the changes in the military leadership mean for Russia’s campaign? And who is really dictating Russia’s aims and tactics in this war?

As we relaunch our Russia-focused podcast under the Carnegie Politika brand, FT correspondent Polina Ivanova and economist-in-exile Sergei Guriev join podcast host Alexander Gabuev to discuss how access to both data and sources has changed since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and whether people inside the Russian government itself also have a poorer understanding of the broader picture as a result of the same changes.

This podcast episode focuses on the recent upheaval in Kazakhstan and what to expect moving forward. What and who was behind the recent unrest in Kazakhstan? What was the role of Russia? What will become of former president Nursultan Nazarbayev’s family, and what are the implications for other former Soviet countries? Podcast host Alexander Gabuev is joined by Assel Tutumlu, an assistant professor at the Near East University, and Temur Umarov, a fellow at Carnegie Moscow Center.

What are the roots and drivers of the digital sovereignty narrative in Russian politics? Is there any Russian alternative to foreign 5G technology? How successful is Moscow’s import substitution policy in telecom hardware and software? Is the specter of sanctions against 5G equipment and other civilian telecom software a real threat, or a myth spread by scaremongers? Podcast host Alexander Gabuev is joined by Janis Kluge, a senior associate with the SWP research facility in Berlin, and Alena Epifanova, a research fellow at DGAP—also in Berlin—to discuss the ideas of digital sovereignty and a sovereign internet, and the challenges to those concepts.

What are the driving forces and goals behind China’s nuclear build-up? Should the ongoing U.S.-Russian arms control talks take into account Chinese progress? And does China’s refusal to take part in those talks render them meaningless? Podcast host Alexander Gabuev is joined by Tong Zhao, a senior fellow in Carnegie’s Nuclear Policy Program, and Elena Chernenko, a special correspondent at Kommersant to discuss China’s plans for its nuclear arsenal.

Is the German regulator’s suspension of the certification process for Nord Stream 2 technical, or political? Why isn’t Gazprom cashing in while prices are so high, by sending additional gas to Europe? How does the Russian gas giant plan to deal with the global green energy transition? Podcast host Alexander Gabuev is joined by Katja Yafimava, a senior research fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, and Sergei Kapitonov, a gas analyst at the energy center of the Skolkovo School of Management, to discuss the European gas crisis and Russia’s role in it.

The pandemic has failed to bring geopolitical rivals together, but has it created new divisions, or merely amplified existing disagreements? And have any lessons been learned for dealing with other global challenges, like climate change? Podcast host Alexander Gabuev is joined by Kadri Liik, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, and Dmitri Trenin, director of the Carnegie Moscow Center, to examine how the COVID-19 pandemic became a new frontline in Russia’s competition with the West.

Podcast host Alexander Gabuev is joined by Elizaveta Fokht, a reporter with the BBC Russian Service, and Andrew Roth, Moscow correspondent for The Guardian, to discuss the outcome of the recent elections for the State Duma. Will the entrance of new parties into the Duma make life difficult for the Kremlin? Why have we seen no real protest movement this time around, despite considerable evidence of electoral fraud? Were there any new voting trends in terms of demographics? And will the pressure on civil society be dialed down now that the elections are over?

Nargis Kassenova, a senior fellow at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies’ program on Central Asia, and Temur Umarov, a research consultant at Carnegie Moscow Center, join podcast host Alexander Gabuev to discuss how Central Asian governments have reacted to the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, what their priorities are, and whether any of them might be prepared to facilitate U.S. military operations in the region from their own territory.

How does the latest version of Russia’s National Security Strategy differ from the last one, released in 2015? Does the inclusion in it of environmental issues mean that this is finally a priority for Russia? Why does the strategy fail to address the growing rivalry between China and the United States? Podcast host Alexander Gabuev is joined by Dmitri Trenin, director of the Carnegie Moscow Center, and Anastasia Likhacheva, director of HSE’s Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies.