Russian Protests and American Interests

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The Kremlin’s struggle with opposition leader Aleksey Navalny – poisoned last summer, then arrested following his dramatic recovery and return to Russia – is threatening to put the Russian government on a collision course with a reinvigorated protest movement at home and with the United States abroad.  What is driving Putin’s actions toward Navalny?  How big a challenge do protests pose to President Putin’s rule?  And how should the United States approach this controversy? 
 
To tackle these questions, the Center for the National Interest held a webinar on February 3, 2021 featuring a group of esteemed Russian politics experts:

  • Jill Dougherty is a Global Fellow at the Wilson Center’s Kennan Institute, where she hosts the KennanX podcast.  A longtime journalist and expert on Russian media, she is a former chief of CNN’s Moscow bureau.    
  • Robert Legvold is Marshall D. Shulman Professor Emeritus at Columbia University and one of America’s foremost experts on Russia.  His most recent book is Return to Cold War.
  • Konstantin Remchukov  is owner and editor in chief of Nezavisimaya Gazeta and one of Russia’s most influential media voices. Respected across Russia’s political spectrum, he chairs the Moscow Public Chamber, frequently appears on Russian TV, and has a weekly program on the opposition Echo Moskvy radio station.
  • George Beebe, Vice President and Director of Studies at the Center and a former director of Russia analysis at the Central Intelligence Agency, will moderate.  He is the author of The Russia Trap: How Our Shadow War with Russia Could Spiral into Catastrophe.