Pushkin House invites you to a discussion about the fraught state of relations between Russia and the West over the past thirty years, and about the man who has fanned the flames of the crisis. Authors Mary Elise Sarotte and Timothy Frye, both shortlisted for the Pushkin House Book Prize 2022, will explore the state of the modern Russian political system; challenge the conventional wisdom about the ruler who stands at its helm; and assess the stand-off unfolding between East and West.
Sarotte and Frye’s conversation comes at a crucial moment, when simmering geopolitical tensions have boiled over into very real bloodshed and atrocities in Ukraine. Many feel that the conflict in Ukraine is a proxy war of Putin against the West and Russia against NATO, using the country as a battleground to settle old scores at the expense of millions of innocent lives. Sarotte and Frye will examine the Russian invasion through the perspective of Putin and his government, and look at what they seek to gain from a political and ideological perspective.
Will we ever see an end to this geopolitical and humanitarian nadir? What could the future hold for Russia and the West?
Join Mary Elise Sarotte, shortlisted for the Pushkin House Book Prize 2022 for her book Not One Inch: America, Russia, and the Making of Post-Cold War Stalemate, and Timothy Frye, author of the shortlisted Weak Strongman: The Limits of Power in Putin’s Russia, for a wide-ranging conversation on the issues facing Russia, Europe and beyond. This discussion will be moderated by Morvan Lallouet, co-author of another shortlisted book: Navalny: Putin’s Nemesis, Russia’s Future?
Please note that this is an online-only event. As per request of the speakers the conversation will not be recorded.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Professor Mary Elise Sarotte is the Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Distinguished Professorship of Historical Studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington DC. Her most recent book, Not One Inch: America, Russia, and the Making of Post-Cold War Stalemate (2021) has been shortlisted for the Pushkin House Book Prize 2022.
Professor Timothy Frye is the Marshall D. Shulman Professor of Post-Soviet Foreign Policy at Columbia University. He is the editor of Post-Soviet Affairs and the author of 4 books, most recently Weak Strongman: The Limits of Power in Putin’s Russia (2021), which is shortlisted for the Pushkin House Book Prize 2022.
Morvan Lallouet is a PhD candidate at the University of Kent, researching Navalny and the Russian opposition.