What does Vladimir Putin believe? Is there a coherent ideology driving his regime, its autocracy, and its imperial ambitions? If so, where did this ideology come from? And what does it mean for Russian domestic and foreign policy going forward?
These are questions we have all been asking for decades. And with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine well into its 20th month, they are questions that are more relevant now than ever.
On The Power Vertical Podcast this week, host Brian Whitmore speaks with Maria Snegovaya, a Senior Fellow in the Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and co-author of a newly published report “The Ideology of Putinism: Is It Sustainable?” and Kathleen Smith, a professor at Georgetown’s Walsh School of Foreign Service and associate director of its Center for Eurasian, Russian, and East European Studies.
Enjoy…
SHOW NOTES
The report discussed in this episode, “The Ideology of Putinism: Is It Sustainable?” can be accessed here.
Maria Snegovaya’s article for The Journal of Democracy, “Why Russia’s Democracy Never Began,” which was also discussed in the podcast, can be accessed here. Her other work and media appearances can be accessed here and here.
Kathleen Smith’s published works can be accessed here and here. Her book Mythmaking in the New Russia can be purchased here.