Eastern Ukraine Under Assault As Russia makes a strategic pivot toward Eastern Ukraine, the challenge goes beyond the battlefield. A divide has long existed between Eastern and Western Ukraine. The most notable difference between the regions is linguistic. Russian is more widely spoken in Eastern Ukraine as opposed to Ukrainian. However, Eastern Ukraine has also... Continue Reading →
Joshua Yaffa joins the podcast to discuss his new book Between Two Fires: Truth, Ambition, and Compromise in Putin's Russia. He is a correspondent for The New Yorker based primarily in Moscow, Russia. ‘What would you prefer? Would you prefer that this boy, Vasya, die because he couldn't get dialysis? Would you prefer that this girl,... Continue Reading →
Compromise and Ambition Where do we draw the line between politics and the other parts of our life? It’s funny how anybody focused on politics distinguishes only between the political and everything else. The compartmentalization does not extend into economic, religious, and other social aspects of the world. For the political thinker the line is... Continue Reading →
Timothy Frye joins the podcast to discuss Russia's personalist autocracy. Tim is a Professor of Post-Soviet Foreign Policy at Columbia University and a research director at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow. His new book is Weak Strongman: The Limits of Power in Putin's Russia. Putin in the past could claim to have won... Continue Reading →
Kathryn Stoner joins the podcast to discuss Russia's resurrection and its implications for international relations. Kathryn is a professor of political science at Stanford University. Her new book is Russia Resurrected: Its Power and Purpose in a New Global Order. Biden's current policy is, you know, we want Putin to calm down, be stable for... Continue Reading →
An Introduction to Russia Over the next two weeks the Democracy Paradox will explore the politics of Russia. A lot of conversations focus on Russia’s foreign policy. But like most countries, Russia’s domestic politics influences its relations with the world. As Kathryn Stoner succinctly puts it, “The regime still fears the potential instability that comes... Continue Reading →
Paul Robinson joins the Democracy Paradox to explain Russian Conservatism. The conversation discusses how it has evolved over two hundred years to help understand politics in Russia today. Paul Robinson on Russian Conservatism The Russian interference in the 2016 American Presidential election brought Russia to the forefront of conversations about international relations. But it... Continue Reading →
