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23

mar

2022

Putin's Authoritarian and Neo-Imperial Ambitions

Welcome to the roundtable "Putin's Authoritarian and Neo-Imperial Ambitions and Politics in the Post-Soviet Space and Military Invasion of Ukraine"

Putin's invasion of Ukraine is a landmark event in international relations. On the one hand, it signals a new round of international confrontation and further signifies the re-emergence of great power competition. On the other hand, it signals a return of the civilizational discourse of the "liberal and democratic West" against the "non-democratic and authoritarian East".

We have witnessed how Putin's Russia began to manifest and pursue an excessively aggressive, militaristic, predatory and neo-imperialist foreign policy in the world. He has invaded two neighbouring countries and supports the continuation of further territorial disputes in Moldova, Azerbaijan and Armenia to create a long and protracted hybrid war in the interests of Russia.

Putin is not limited to aggressive and hybrid conflicts in the context of his foreign policy in the international arena. Russia has also been increasingly intervening to support neighbouring autocrats. For example, in August 2020, Putin sent between 600 and 1,000 well-trained fighters of the Federal Service of the National Guard Troops (Rosgvardia) to Belarus to suppress peaceful protests and support the regime of Alexander Lukashenka. In January 2022, the Russian-led CSTO intervened in Kazakhstan to suppress protests and support President Tokayev.

In addition to all this, Russia is using the Afghan factor and the protection of the southern borders as a means to justify strengthening the Russian military bases in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan and put pressure on local regimes to remain within Russia's orbit.

Consequently, today's Putinism has become a kind of new incarnation of the former imperial policy of the USSR towards the former Soviet republics. In order to consider this problem, we are organizing an interdisciplinary and international round table within the framework of which the following issues will be discussed:

    • What role does Putin's authoritarianism play in Russia's foreign policy towards the former Soviet republics and the international community?
    • How did the CSTO turn from a military-political bloc into an instrument for suppressing protests and unrest to preserve post-Soviet authoritarian regimes?
    • How did the democratization and liberalization of Ukrainian society lead to the Russian invasion?
    • What are the consequences, threats and challenges of the Russian invasion of Ukraine for the EU, US, NATO and post-Soviet countries?
    • To what extent did Russia's occupation of Ukraine become a signal to intimidate other former Soviet republics?
    • Why and how do the leaders of the former Soviet countries support Russia's invasion of Ukraine?
    • How serious will Western countries' sanctions against the Russian Federation because of the invasion of Ukraine become?
    • What is China's position on Putin's invasion and occupation of Ukrainian territory?

    The purpose of the event is to discuss and exchange opinions between experts, current and former diplomats (in post-Soviet countries), activists and researchers in foreign policy and inter-regional / transnational military and hybrid rivalry and confrontation between Russia and the West.

    The roundtable will be held online and conducted in English on March 23, 2022.

    13.00 - 13.05 Welcome and introductory remarks by organizers: Dr. Olena Podolian, Dr. Edward Lemon, Prof. Joakim Ekman and Prof. Ann-Mari Sätre.

    PANEL I, Chair: Prof. Ann-Mari Sätre, Institute for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Uppsala University. (An introduction of participants - Participants will briefly introduce themselves).

    13.05 - 13.15 Prof. Greg Yudin, Professor of Political Philosophy at Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences.

    Topic: What makes Bonapartist regimes aggressive: The case of Russia.

    Research interests: Political and economic anthropology, philosophy of human and social sciences.

    13.15 - 13.25 Dr. Ingerid M. Opdahl, Associate professor at the Institute for Defence Studies (IFS)/Norwegian Defence University College.

    Topic: Authoritarianism and Russian foreign policy: questions of agency.

    Research interest: Russian foreign policy, Russia’s political development, energy tools in Russian foreign policy.

    13.25 - 13.35 Mr. Manne Wangborg, Former the Ambassador of Sweden to Kazakhstan in 2010-2014 and Consul-General of Sweden to Kaliningrad in 2006-2009 and later Acting Consul-General on the Åland Islands in the Baltic Sea.

    Topic: Today's Putinism and a new incarnation of the former imperial policy of the USSR towards the former Soviet republics.

    Research interests: International relation, Diplomacy, Soviet and Post-soviet Studies.

    13.35 - 13.55 Discussion – Q/A

    13.55 - 14.00 Break

    PANEL II, Chair: Dr. Edward Lemon, Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A&M University, Washington DC and President of the Oxus Society for Central Asian Affairs. (An introduction of participants - Participants will briefly introduce themselves).

    14.00 - 14.10 Prof. Marina Svensson, Professor of modern China studies and director of the Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies at Lund University.

    Topic: Sino-Russian Friendship Under Strain: China's Official Positions and Popular Views.

    Research interests: Span contemporary Chinese society, human rights and digital developments.

    14.10 - 14.20 Prof. George Krol, Adjunct Professor at the U.S. Naval War College and Associate of Harvard University’s Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies.

    Topic: The Russian Invasion of Ukraine: Consequences and Challenges for U.S. policy toward the former Soviet republics.

    Research interests: The emergence, evolution and conflict of national identities in the former Soviet republics.

    14.20 - 14.30 Dr. Asel Doolotkeldieva, Senior Lecturer at the OSCE Academy in Bishkek.

    Topic: Perspectives on and implications of the Russian aggression against Ukraine in Central Asia.

    Research interests: Revolts and politics of populism, mobilizations, protests and political economy of resource extraction in Central Asia.

    14.30 - 14.50 Discussion – Q/A

    14.50 - 14.55 Break

    PANEL III, Chair: Dr. Olena Podolian, Department of Social Sciences, Södertörn University. (An introduction of participants - Participants will briefly introduce themselves).

    14.55 - 15.05 Dr. Andreas Umland, Analyst at the Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies (SCEEUS) at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs. He is also an Associate Professor of Political Science at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.

    Topic: Russian Post-/Neo-Imperialism: Continuity, Change, and Their Determinants.

    Research interest: Russian and Ukrainian domestic politics, foreign affairs and nationalism, Eurasianism, comparative fascism, East European geopolitics, German Ostpolitik, post-Soviet higher education, Ukraine's decentralization, history of the USSR and German Democratic Republic.

    15.05 - 15.15 Ms. Alla Koshlyak, Journalist and the Anchorwoman of "New day" from Kyiv, Ukraine.

    Topic: The work of a journalist in the war or why I stay in Ukraine.

    Research and journalist interests: business/entrepreneurship in Ukraine, news production.

    15.15 - 15.25 Dr. Ilmari Käihkö, Associate professor of War Studies at the Swedish Defence University, and a veteran of the Finnish Defence Forces.

    Topic: Strategy in the War in Ukraine.

    Research interests: Cultural sociology of war, contemporary warfare, conflict ethnography and chartography.

    15.25 - 15.45 Discussion – Q/A

    15.45 - 15.50 Closing Remarks by organizers.

    Dr. Oleg Antonov is a Researcher at the Centre for Baltic and East European Studies at Södertörn University, is a visiting researcher at Institute for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Uppsala University and an Affiliated Researcher at the Department of Global Political Studies, the Faculty of Culture and Society, with Russia and the Caucasus Regional Research, Malmö University.

    Dr. Olena Podolian is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Baltic and East European Studies, Södertörn University.

    Dr. Edward Lemon is a Research Assistant Professor at the Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A&M University, Washington DC and President of the Oxus Society for Central Asian Affairs.

    Prof. Joakim Ekman is a Director of the Centre for Baltic and East European Studies, Södertörn University.

    Prof. Ann-Mari Sätre is an Associate Professor of Economics and Research Director at the Institute for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Uppsala University.

    Prof. Bo Petersson is a Professor of Political science and International Migration and Ethnic Relations and co-Director of the research platform the Russia and the Caucasus Regional Research (RUCARR), Malmö University

    This event is conducted as a collaboration between the Centre for Baltic and East European Studies (CBEES), the research platform Russia and the Caucasus Regional Research (RUCARR) at Malmö University, the Oxus Society for Central Asian Affairs and the Institute for Russian and Eurasian Studies (IRES) at Uppsala University.

    This event is part of the project Authoritarian Policy Transfer in the Post-Soviet States, which is funded by the Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies (Grant number: 21-PR2-0020)

    Tid och plats

    23 mars 2022, 13:00-16:00

    Symposium

    Online in Zoom

    Engelska

    Arrangeras av

    Centre for Baltic and East European Studies (CBEES), the research platform Russia and the Caucasus Regional Research (RUCARR) at Malmö University; the Oxus Society for Central Asian Affairs; the Institute for Russian and Eurasian Studies (IRES) at Uppsala University

    Användbara länkar

    Sidinformation

    Sidan är uppdaterad
    2025-12-02