Russian Roulette

In this episode of Russian Roulette, Jeff sits down with Erica Marat, who is an associate professor at the College of International Security Affairs at the U.S. National Defense University. Her recent book, The Politics of Police Reform, explores transformation of law enforcement agencies in former Soviet countries. They discuss the recent upheaval in Kyrgyzstan, as well as protests and police reforms in the former Soviet Union more broadly. You can find Erica Marat’s recent book here: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-politics-of-police-reform-9780190861490?cc=us&lang=en& We want more mail! If you would like to have your question answered on the podcast, send it to us! Email rep@csis.org and put “Russian Roulette” in the subject line. And, if you have one, include your Twitter handle, so we can notify you publicly when we answer your question (or, if you don’t want us to, tell us that). We look forward to hearing from you.

In this episode of Russian Roulette, Jeff sits down with…well, himself, to talk about the Moscow protests and what they may mean for Russia and for the Kremlin. He also answers mailbag questions, including on the differences between U.S. and Russian ideologies and the role of nationality and history in the countries sandwiched between the West and Russia. We want more mail! If you would like to have your question answered on the podcast, send it to us! Email rep@csis.org and put “Russian Roulette” in the subject line. And, if you have one, include your Twitter handle, so we can notify you publicly when we answer your question (or, if you don’t want us to, tell us that). We look forward to hearing from you.  

In this episode of Russian Roulette, Jeff sits down with Dmitry Suslov, who is Deputy Director, Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow. They discuss the Trump-Putin meeting in Osaka, strategic stability, competing U.S. and Russian views of international order, and much else besides. You can find Dmitry Suslov’s bio here: https://www.hse.ru/en/org/persons/1165509 You can find the video of his recent public presentation at CSIS here: https://www.csis.org/events/prospects-us-russia-relations-perspective-moscow We want more mail! If you would like to have your question answered on the podcast, send it to us! Email rep@csis.org and put “Russian Roulette” in the subject line. And, if you have one, include your Twitter handle, so we can notify you publicly when we answer your question (or, if you don’t want us to, tell us that). We look forward to hearing from you.

In this episode of Russian Roulette, Jeff sits down with Lyndon Allin, currently a D.C. based lawyer, who was a U.S. State Department secondee to the OSCE Mission to Moldova from 2011 to 2016. They discuss Moldova’s political transition, what it means for Russia, U.S., and Europe as well as devote time to Transnistria. You can find Lyndon Allin’s bio here: https://www.bakermckenzie.com/en/people/a/allin-lyndon-k The piece he co-wrote on the ouster of Moldova’s ruling party is here: https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/draining-the-moldovan-swamp You can follow him on Twitter: @scrapsofmoscow We want more mail! If you would like to have your question answered on the podcast, send it to us! Email rep@csis.org and put “Russian Roulette” in the subject line. And, if you have one, include your Twitter handle, so we can notify you publicly when we answer your question (or, if you don’t want us to, tell us that). We look forward to hearing from you.  

In this episode of Russian Roulette, Jeff sits down with Jakub Janda, head of Kremlin Watch and Director at the European Values Think-Tank in Prague. They discuss Russian disinformation and influence operations in Europe as well as European states’ responses to them. If you are interested in China’s operations in Europe and how they differ from Russia’s, stay tuned to hear Jakub mention this as well.     You can find Jakub Janda’s bio here: https://www.kremlinwatch.eu/#our-team  The Kremlin Watch’s 2018 ranking of EU28’s responses to Russian operations is here: https://www.kremlinwatch.eu/userfiles/2018-ranking-of-countermeasures-by-the-eu28-to-the-kremlin-s-subversion-operations.pdf We want more mail! If you would like to have your question answered on the podcast, send it to us! Email rep@csis.org and put “Russian Roulette” in the subject line. And, if you have one, include your Twitter handle, so we can notify you publicly when we answer your question (or, if you don’t want us to, tell us that). We look forward to hearing from you.

In this episode of Russian Roulette, Jeff welcomes Marian Schwartz, a prize-winning translator of Russian fiction and other works. They discuss her new translation of Olga Slavnikova’s novel The Man Who Couldn’t Die, as well as the state of Russian fiction today. Marian recommends other authors for you to discover and mentions a funny story illustrating the dangers of translating classical literature.     You can read Marian’s bio here: https://www.marianschwartz.com/about and purchase the book here: https://cup.columbia.edu/book/the-man-who-couldnt-die/9780231185950 We want more mail! If you would like to have your question answered on the podcast, send it to us! Email rep@csis.org and put “Russian Roulette” in the subject line. And, if you have one, include your Twitter handle, so we can notify you publicly when we answer your question (or, if you don’t want us to, tell us that). We look forward to hearing from you.

In this episode of Russian Roulette, Jeff welcomes back Melinda Haring, editor of the UkraineAlert blog at the Atlantic Council. As the dust settles from a raucous Ukrainian presidential campaign (though by all measures a smooth and fair election day) they discuss what a Zelenskiy presidency means for Ukraine, for Russia, and for the West, and delve into Ukraine’s parliamentary politics in the runup to October Rada elections. testtest You can read Melinda’s bio and recent publications, here: https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/about/experts/list/melinda-haring We want more mail! If you would like to have your question answered on the podcast, send it to us! Email rep@csis.org and put “Russian Roulette” in the subject line. And, if you have one, include your Twitter handle, so we can notify you publicly when we answer your question (or, if you don’t want us to, tell us that). We look forward to hearing from you.

In this episode of Russian Roulette, Jeff sits down with Ambassador James Dobbins, Howard Schultz, and Ali Wyne, authors of the recent RAND Corporation report “Russia Is a Rogue, Not a Peer; China Is a Peer, Not a Rogue.” They discuss what type of challenge Russia and China pose to U.S. interests, how the two challenges are similar and different, and what U.S. policy can do in response to each. We encourage you to read their report, here: https://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PE310.html You can view their bios and other publications, here: https://www.rand.org/about/people/d/dobbins_james.html https://www.rand.org/about/people/s/shatz_howard_j.html https://www.rand.org/about/people/w/wyne_ali.html

In this episode of Russian Roulette, Jeff sits down with Angela Stent, director of the Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies and a professor of government and foreign service at Georgetown University, and author of the recent book “Putin’s World: Russia Against the West and With the Rest” (Twelve, 2019), for which she won the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy’s prize for the best book on U.S-Russia Relations. They discuss Angela's new book, U.S.-Russia relations, Vladimir Putin's role in the construction of Russian foreign policy, and much, much more. You can read Angela's bio and other publications, here: https://www.brookings.edu/experts/angela-stent/ We highly encourage (insist!) you pick up a copy of Angela's book at your local bookstore, or order it, here: https://www.twelvebooks.com/titles/angela-stent/putins-world/9781455533015/

In this episode of Russian Roulette, Jeff sits down with William Pomeranz, Deputy Director of the Wilson Center’s Kennan Institute and author of Law and the Russian State: Russia's Legal Evolution from Peter the Great to Vladimir Putin (Bloomsbury, 2018). They discuss the evolution of law in Russia, the role of state power in the Russian legal tradition, the criminalization of commercial disputes, including the recent Michael Calvey case, Russia’s succession question and its legal ramifications, and much, much more. We sincerely recommend Will’s book, available for purchase, here, https://www.amazon.com/Law-Russian-State-Evolution-Bloomsbury/dp/1474224229, or for order from your local bookstore. You can view Will’s bio and read more about his other projects, here: https://www.wilsoncenter.org/person/william-e-pomeranz We want more mail! If you would like to have your question answered on the podcast, send it to us! Email rep@csis.org and put “Russian Roulette” in the subject line. And, if you have one, include your Twitter handle, so we can notify you publicly when we answer your question (or, if you don’t want us to, tell us that). We look forward to hearing from you.