Getting Russia Right
New Thinking for a New World - a Tallberg Foundation Podcast
11/09/23
•35m
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Winston Churchill famously said that Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. After the end of the Cold War, many in the West thought the puzzle was solved. The Soviet Union had collapsed. Russians would embrace free markets and even liberal democracy. And President Obama could dismiss Russia as merely a “regional," not a great power. Case closed; time to pivot to Asia.
But reality has a way of complicating simplistic thinking. First, President Putin consolidated his domestic control, then allied his country with China in starting to rewrite the rules of global order, and finally invaded Ukraine last year. Now Putin is a “war criminal,” his country’s financial assets seized and exports have been banned (more in theory than in practice), and sanctions imposed on Russian officials as well as on oligarchs thought to be Putin supporters.
The Great Power has become the Great Pariah—but remains a great enigma.
Getting Russia Right is both a national security imperative and the name of a recently published book by Thomas Graham, one of America’s foremost Russian analysts. Graham has spent much of the last 40 years trying to understand Russia, not as the United States wanted it to be, but as it was and now is. His book is an important contribution to thinking about how to cope with Russia today as well as tomorrow.
What do you think? Is Russia still a Great Power?
Previous Episode
People-Centered Justice
November 2, 2023
•27m
It’s commonplace today to bemoan the erosion of democracy almost everywhere. Seemingly endless polls document citizens’ complaints; even more academic books and papers seek to explain the problem. But maybe we are overthinking this. Maybe the “democracy” problem is at its core a “justice” problem—meaning that because too many people in too many places lack adequate access to justice and cannot resolve basic legal problems that plague them, they have—understandably—begun to doubt democracy itself.
Why is that? What can be done? Is it simply about rekindling trust in judges, courts, and due process—although there is nothing simple about regaining trust once lost? Or do we need to find new ways to make justice work for people?
Despite, or maybe because Allyson Maynard-Gibson is a barrister and former attorney general and minister for legal affairs of the Bahamas, she firmly believes that the solution lies in people-centered justice that explores new solutions beyond the established institutions. Listen as she discusses a new way of thinking about how people can find the justice they deserve.
Next Episode
War Without End?
November 30, 2023
•27m
On January 1st Ukraine’s President Zelensky welcomed 2023 with the words, "Happy New Year! The year of our victory!’ Instead, as we approach year’s end, the conflict seems to have settled into a war of attrition which neither side can win or lose. In spite of the bravery of Ukraine's troops and more support from the West than anyone expected, Ukraine's much-heralded summer offensive looks to have failed, or at least stalled.
What comes next? Rinse and repeat? Negotiation? Some kind of dramatic escalation that changes the rhythm of this horrible war?
Our guest on New Thinking for New World is Svitlana Morenets, a Ukrainian journalist who is now a staff writer at Britain’s Spectator magazine recently published an absolutely brilliant article titled “Zelensky Must Be Honest About the State of the War.” She ended her piece this way. "The real question is the extent of the sacrifice everyone is willing to make and what the most probable outcome will be if they choose not to pay that price anymore.”
Listen as we discuss what an honest assessment might mean. And join the conversation: “Do you think Ukraine can win?"
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