Russia and the World: 25 Years after the Soviet Break-Up

Please join us for a panel discussion with Bobo Lo, independent analyst and author of several books on Russian foreign policy, and Ted Hopf, National University of Singapore, moderated by Fiona Hill, Brookings Institution.

This event is part of the Harriman at 70 Lecture Series.

The current downturn in Russia’s relationship with the West has prompted Russian officials and scholars to openly call for “new rules” for global politics. Western sanctions on Russia for its actions in Ukraine have prompted the Kremlin’s counter-sanctions and Moscow’s public “pivot to the Asia-Pacific,” designed to reinforce the notion that Russia is a global power and an important player in a multipolar world order.

How sustainable is Russia’s international revisionism and what are the implications for its relationship with the West? Is current Russian foreign policy orientation the result of the leadership of President Vladimir Putin and his inner circle, or has Russia made a decisive break from the West? How important are factors like social status and prestige in Russia’s current foreign policy identity? And is Russia’s public strategic partnership with China still an “axis of convenience,” or will it deepen to form a counter-Western pole designed to challenge Western-led security and global governance architectures?

Our panel brings together distinguished experts of Russian foreign policy from academic and the policy-making communities to discuss these issues.

From the Harriman Institute.