The Autocrats’ Playbook: Putin’s Russia and Erdogan’s Turkey
Release Date: 07/22/2021
Russia and the West: Highs and Lows
The Russia File
Over the past 10 years, Russia’s relations with the West have reached new lows. No other relationship has been more indicative of that trajectory than the one with Great Britain. The story of Russian-British ties, partnership, and animosity is essential to explore. David Owen, a veteran British politician active in Britain’s Russian politics both in Soviet and post-Soviet Russian times, joins the Russia File to discuss this following the publication of his new book, book Riddle, Mystery, and Enigma.
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The Autocrats’ Playbook: Putin’s Russia and Erdogan’s Turkey
The Russia File
Despite constant geopolitical infighting, Russia and Turkey display striking similarities in the stance they take toward the West. Moscow and Ankara's crackdown on media, political opponents, the non-governmental sector and even independent universities inevitably call for comparisons between the two. Maxim Trudolyubov discusses novel authoritarian trends with Ayşe Zarakol and Sergei Guriev.
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The Contemporary Relevance of Andrei Sakharov's Message
The Russia File
A Soviet nuclear physicist and Nobel laureate, Andrei Sakharov fought for disarmament, world peace, and human rights. To what extent is his legacy relevant for today’s Russia and the world? Maxim Trudolyubov discusses Sakharov's legacy with Cecile Vaissie, a professor of Russian and Soviet studies at the University of Rennes 2, and Arkady Ostrovsky, Russia and Eastern Europe editor for The Economist.
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Rethinking the Space Race
The Russia File
The Soviet pilot Yuri Gagarin made his pioneering spaceflight 60 years ago. In the USSR, it marked a time of optimistic, forward-looking modernization, of which the Soviet space program was the hallmark.
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Weak Strongman: Discussing the Limits of Putin's Power with Timothy Frye
The Russia File
Russia is often seen as a country that was led astray by a former KGB officer, Vladimir Putin. Informed by his training and character, it is often implied, he turned himself into an all-powerful ruler and turned Russia into the autocracy it is today. But what if he simply was helpless to do any better?
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Sputnik V: International Success, Domestic Problems
The Russia File
Sputnik V, Russia's COVID-19 vaccine, is not just a scientific achievement but a golden moment for vaccine diplomacy. Despite the initial distrust—some of which persists to this day—dozens of countries have granted Sputnik V emergency use authorization. Why is Russia falling behind in its domestic vaccination campaign, and will Russia be able to maintain its international vaccine leadership?
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Beyond Electoral Politics: Social Change, Not Political Awakening
The Russia File
Most Russians have long stopped expecting that any real change may come from electoral politics. And yet, a slew of recent, successful popular movements from Moscow to Khabarovsk are proving that, even without real elections, Russians can stand up for their interests.
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A Poisonous History: The Kremlin's Fear of an Imported Revolution
The Russia File
For years journalists Irina Borogan and Andrei Soldatov have reported on Russia’s security services. This time, they decided to look at the agencies’ history and wrote The Compatriots: The Brutal and Chaotic History of Russia's Exiles, Émigrés, and Agents Abroad. With the poisoning of the Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny and its aftermath, the book is suddenly more topical than one is comfortable to admit. Borogan and Soldatov discuss the KGB of old and Russia’s existing security organizatio
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Russian-Speaking Israelis and How They Changed Israel
The Russia File
Thirty years ago, a million Russian-speaking immigrants arrived in Israel. Overnight, they became one of the largest Russian-speaking communities in the world outside the former Soviet Union. Who are the Russian-speaking Israelis? What did their arrival signify for the country? We discuss these questions with Ksenia Svetlova, Matti Friedman, and Yossi Klein Halevi. Matti Friedman’s piece in Mosaic: https://bit.ly/3qBd40k Yossi Klein Halevi’s piece in Mosaic: https://bit.ly/3owVkkK
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Electoral Politics and the Role of the Media
The Russia File
The media environments in Russia and the US are almost mirror opposites. In the US, mainstream media can cut away from the sitting president on live television or poke fun at him in their opinion pages. In Russia, independent media are happy just to stay alive. The internet and social media, often seen as sources of polarization in the US, are a lifeline for the embattled journalists in Russia as well as Belarus. Yet, we have a lot to learn from each other—and to disagree upon.
info_outlineMany prefer to measure today's authoritarian regimes against the West’s standards in everything from governance to culture. But taking a closer look at the authoritarian world itself and studying its evolution is probably more illuminating.
Despite constant geopolitical infighting, Russia and Turkey display striking similarities in the stance they take toward the West. Moscow and Ankara's crackdown on media, political opponents, the non-governmental sector and even independent universities inevitably call for comparisons between the two.
The Kennan Institute's Maxim Trudolyubov discusses novel authoritarian trends with Ayşe Zarakol, reader in international relations at the University of Cambridge, and Sergei Guriev, professor of economics at Sciences Po Paris.