⚪ Origins of the War Angela Stent joins us April 8. From the end of the Cold War to the 2022 invasion of #Ukraine, a conversation on U.S.-#Russia relations and the origins of the war. Register ⬇️ https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_z6FgpiVqQkqeZdJIWHF7eg

⚪ How did Chernobyl shape Ukrainian politics? Serhii Plokhy explains how the disaster sparked early political mobilization and new movements. Watch the full conversation on YouTube 📺

⚪ “Putin never accepted the idea of Ukrainian agency.” @ambtedesco.bsky.social  explains how a fundamental misreading of Ukraine shaped Russia’s decisions in 2022, and why Moscow viewed events on the ground as externally engineered. Full conversation now on Spotify 🎙️

⚪ How does #Putin interpret democracy promotion? Thomas Graham explains how Beslan and the Orange Revolution shaped his view of U.S. intentions. Watch now on YouTube 📺

📰 Our Director, Michael Kimmage, in @nytimes.com : “The War in Ukraine Changed the World in Ways We’re Only Starting to Comprehend” Read Now ⬇️

⚫ What happens when doctrine and behavior diverge? This piece examines Russia’s nuclear strategy in the absence of New START, highlighting treaty violations and growing emphasis on first-strike scenarios. Read ⬇️ https://www.kennaninstitute.org/articles/reflections-on-russias-nuclear-behavior

🔵 The Kennan Institute is proud to announce that it has received a $500,000 grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York to bring high-quality, nonpartisan analysis of developments across the former Soviet Union to the general public and policymakers.

What does occupation mean in practice? @lanaestemirova.bsky.social draws on the experience of #Chechnya to challenge arguments about territorial concessions in Ukraine. Watch the full conversation ⬇️ https://youtu.be/3Rv728oobSA

⚪ Origins of the War How do we understand the origins of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine? Serhii Plokhy joins us to explore the historical and scholarly debates behind the war. 🗓 March 27 | 11:00 AM Register ⬇️ https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_MaAVc-0oSiy1lamWV8wneQ

⚪️ What led to the war in Ukraine? Join us for a conversation with Thomas Graham (@cfr.org), author of Getting Russia Right, as we examine the long history behind the conflict, from the collapse of the Soviet Union to key U.S. policy decisions. 🗓 March 25 ⏰ 11:00 AM RSVP ⬇️ zoom.us/webinar/regi...

⚪️ Why did Russia miscalculate Ukraine? @michaelkofman.bsky.social explains how Russian elites failed to see #Ukraine as a sovereign society with its own identity and political agency. Watch the full conversation ⬇️ 📺 Link in the comments.

🫱🏻‍🫲🏽 Tomorrow Michael Kimmage moderates a @brookings.edu event on #Ukraine on the Mental Map of Europe, featuring Karl Schlögel, Non-Resident Fellow at the Kennan Institute. Join ⬇️ www.brookings.edu/events/ukrai...

🔴 “Ukrainians wanted to bring Europe to #Ukraine.” Serhii Plokhy on how Ukraine’s democratic trajectory—from 2004 to 2013—reflects a deeper commitment to rule of law and political culture. 🎧 Listen to the full episode on Spotify

🔴 “Ukraine is not Russia.” @oxanashevel.bsky.social explains how the Orange Revolution and Euromaidan reshaped scholarship on #Ukraine by highlighting the role of civil society and grassroots mobilization. Full conversation on YouTube 📺 Link in the comments ⬇️

🔴The Long View 015 Journalist and human rights activist @lanaestemirova.bsky.social discusses her memoir Please Live: The Chechen Wars, My Mother and Me and reflects on childhood during the #Chechen wars. 🗓 March 19 | 1 PM ET Register ⬇️ zoom.us/webinar/regi...

⚪️ Starting Soon

⚫ Russia’s wartime #economy is producing a new model of property. Major corporate assets are being redistributed through nationalization, forced sales, and administrative pressure. Meanwhile, ordinary housing ownership is presented as secure. Read more ⬇️ www.kennaninstitute.org/articles/con...

🔴 Historian Jochen Hellbeck explains the historical context behind Martin Niemöller’s famous “First they came…” warning and why #communists were originally named first. Full conversation on YouTube 📺 Link in the comments 🔗

⚪️ Ambassador Dan Fried reflects on the intelligence warnings before #Russia’s 2022 invasion of #Ukraine and how U.S. officials understood the stakes. Listen to the full episode on Spotify ⬇️

⚪️ Origins of the War @michaelkofman.bsky.social discusses the military dynamics behind #Russia’s war against #Ukraine, tracing the conflict from the 2008 Russia-Georgia War to the 2022 full-scale invasion. 🗓 March 13 | 11 AM ET Register ⬇️ zoom.us/webinar/regi...

🔴 The Long View #014 Serhii Plokhy and Oxana Shevel discuss the state of Ukrainian studies today, including new directions in research and the role of archives and sources. 🗓 March 11 | 11 AM ET Register ⬇️ zoom.us/webinar/regi...

🇺🇦🇷🇺 Jon Finer argues that a just and durable peace in #Ukraine cannot come from pressuring Kyiv alone. A lasting settlement must also involve pressure on #Russia to make concessions. Watch the full conversation now on YouTube ⬇️ Link in the comments.

💭 Iran at War: The Russian Angle @hannanotte.bsky.social examines Iran’s deterrence strategy, which relied on #nuclear threshold status, ballistic #missiles, and #proxy forces. If that strategy ultimately failed, what lessons does it hold for nuclear hedging and nonproliferation going forward?

🔴 The Long View Historian Maurice Casey reflects on a deeper lesson from the #Soviet experience. Alongside greed and the pursuit of power, human history also reveals a persistent desire to build a better world. Full conversation linked in the comments ⬇️

💭 #Iran at War: The Russian Angle @nicolegrajewski.bsky.social explains why the Russia–Iran relationship is not an alliance. It is a partnership shaped by shared interests, regime security concerns, and significant limits rooted in historical mistrust. Full conversation linked below ⬇️

🔴 #Siberia has long been imagined in Russian culture in two radically different ways. A place of exile and brutality. Or a frontier of freedom and opportunity. Sophie Pinkham explains ⬇️

💭 #Iran at War: The Russian Angle @hannanotte.bsky.social explains how #Russia localized production of #Shahed drones and can now produce them at scale. She also discusses how a prolonged Middle East conflict could affect supply chains and political attention around #Ukraine. Link in comments ⬇️

⚪️ Happening tomorrow

💭 Iran at War: The Russian Angle @nicolegrajewski.bsky.social explains how tensions involving #Iran could affect #Russia’s broader interests in the Gulf, where Moscow’s economic ties to GCC states often exceed its ties to Tehran. Full conversation in the comments ⬇️

⚫ The Russia File Alexander Herzen’s legacy is being revisited and contested in the context of Russia’s war in Ukraine. Kathleen Parthé examines how history and dissent intersect in contemporary political discourse. Read: www.kennaninstitute.org/articles/ale...

⚪ Origins of the War Ambassador Daniel Fried of @atlanticcouncil.bsky.social joins us to examine the deep origins of #Russia’s 2022 invasion of #Ukraine. 🗓 March 4 | ⏰ 11 AM ET Register: zoom.us/webinar/regi...

💭 Iran at War: The Russian Angle A major war against #Iran raises urgent questions about Russia’s role in the Middle East. @hannanotte.bsky.social and @nicolegrajewski.bsky.social assess the broader implications. Register: zoom.us/webinar/regi...

⚪️ Happening Tomorrow

⚫️ The Russia File Joseph Dresen argues that while recent U.S. policy shifts may appear beneficial for Moscow, #Russia’s long-term strategic position is weakening. Full article: www.kennaninstitute.org/articles/tru...

⚪ Yaroslav Hrytsak on early partition discussions: annexing territory from Odessa to Kharkiv if #Ukraine moved West. A segment on long-term strategic thinking behind the war. Full discussion in the comments.

🔴 Happening Tomorrow

⚪ Former National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, on #NATO, #Ukraine, and whether war could have been averted. He argues there were diplomatic options. #Putin did not test them. Full discussion in the comments ⬇️

🔴 The Long View #013 How did #Nazi Germany’s war against Soviet #Russia shape the #Holocaust? Jochen Hellbeck discusses newly declassified archives and the ideological roots of annihilation on the Eastern Front. March 5 | 11:00 AM ET Register ⬇️ zoom.us/webinar/regi...

🔴 Soviet domestic #workers were not confined to one role. Labor shortages and legal protections created leverage and mobility across sectors. Watch the full episode on our YouTube channel 📺

🔴 POWs as a “captive audience.” @susangrunewald.bsky.social explains how Allied denazification efforts included reeducation programs in German POW camps, including those run by the Soviet Union. Explore the full recording on our YouTube channel

⚫ #Cheburashka’s revival is more than nostalgia. Maxim Trudolyubov examines how children’s entertainment, state cultural funding, and the avoidance of political reality intersect in today’s #Russia Read the full essay: www.kennaninstitute.org/articles/che...

⚪ #Putin’s Motivation: A Multi-Causal Analysis Historian SergeyRadchenko argues that #Russia’s invasion of #Ukraine cannot be reduced to a single cause. History, security concerns, identity, and timing all shaped the decision. 📺Watch the full conversation on our YouTube channel

🔴 The Long View #012 Radicals and the Soviet Union @mauricejcasey.com on Hotel Lux and the forgotten activists whose lives intersected in 1920s Moscow. Feb 26 | 11 AM ET RSVP: zoom.us/webinar/regi...

⚪ Origins of the War Join Jon Finer, former U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor, for a conversation on U.S. policy choices in 2014–2015 after Russia’s first invasion of Ukraine, and the lead-up to the full-scale invasion in 2022. 🗓️ February 27 ⏰1:00 PM RSVP now ⬇️ zoom.us/webinar/regi...

⚪ Origins of the War Ambassador John Sullivan reflects on reported #Russian intelligence failures before the 2022 invasion. Misjudgment, preparation, and the role of the #FSB remain key to understanding the war’s early phase. 📺 Available on YouTube now

⚪ Origins of the War When did #Putin decide to invade #Ukraine? What evidence would truly illuminate Russian decision-making?

⚫ After two devastating wars, #Chechnya’s leadership under Ramzan Kadyrov has engineered a new identity blending ethnocultural distinctiveness with loyalty to #Moscow. Read the full article for context ⬇️ www.kennaninstitute.org/articles/che...

🔴 HAPPENING TOMORROW The Long View #010 Service and Domesticity in the Soviet Union Historian Alissa Klots discusses her book: Domestic Service in the Soviet Union: Women’s Emancipation and the Gendered Hierarchy of Labor zoom.us/webinar/regi...

🔴 #Samizdat as a technology of free speech. @benjaminnathans.bsky.social on decentralization, ownership, and why samizdat was unlike today’s internet.

⚪ Origins of the War A conversation with Jake Sullivan, former U.S. National Security Advisor and Harvard Kennedy School professor. 📅 February 20 🕚 11:00 AM ET RSVP ⬇️ zoom.us/webinar/regi...