We all now live in a paranoid and polarized world of Putin’s making, and the Russian leader, through guile and disruption, has resurrected Russia’s status as a force to be reckoned with. How did Russia manage to emerge resurgent on the world stage and play a weak hand so effectively? Is it because Putin is a brilliant strategist? Is it because of Russia’s abundant energy endowment? Is it because Putin has inappropriately politicized energy trade with Europe and neighboring post-Soviet countries? Or has Russia stepped into a vacuum created by the West’s distraction with its own domestic problems and US ambivalence about whether it still wants to act as a superpower? Angela Stent, director of the Center for Eurasian, Russian, and East European Studies and a professor of government and foreign service at Georgetown University, joins Jonathan Elkind, Senior Research Scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy, and Alexander Cooley, Director of the Harriman Institute, for a discussion of her book, Putin’s World: Russia Against the West and with the Rest. The book examines the country’s turbulent past, how it has influenced Putin, the Russians’ understanding of their position on the global stage and their future ambitions — and their conviction that the West has tried to deny them a seat at the table of great powers since the USSR collapsed. This event is co-sponsored by the Center on Global Energy Policy and the Harriman Institute. — This event is open to press. Media attending the event should register using the registration link below. Media inquiries or requests for interviews should be directed to Artealia Gilliard ([email protected]). Guests unable to attend in person can view a livestream of the event at energypolicy.columbia.edu/livestream. For more information contact: [email protected].
