What Does Putin Really Want, and Will He Get It?

More than two years after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, there is no reprieve from violence and suffering. As Kremlin troops again forge past Ukrainian borders, experts have warned of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plan to prolong the war indefinitely, ignoring casualties even on the Russian front. Some of Ukraine’s neighbors in Eastern Europe worry about their own future, if Putin should turn his attention their way. Meanwhile, the Russian leader has made an ominous visit to Pyongyang, to reinforce his alliance with the ruthless and unpredictable North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, and China appears willing to stand by him, too. What are Putin’s motivations and strategic objectives? Is NATO ready to stand up to him? Or do current political uncertainties in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and other Western democracies inevitably strengthen his hand?

This event is part of the ongoing event series Free Speech at the Crossroads: International Dialogues. These events are sponsored by the Free Speech Project (Georgetown University) and the Future of the Humanities Project (Georgetown University, the Las Casas Institute and Campion Hall, Oxford), hosted by Georgetown University on Zoom.

Free and open to all. Registration is  required.

Featured:

Anne Lonsdale, a British sinologist and higher education expert, served as the President of New Hall (now Murray Edwards College), University of Cambridge, from 1996 to 2008. Previously, she was the secretary-general of the Central European University and joined the team creating Nazarbayev University in Astana, Kazakhstan, where she was appointed founding provost from 2010 to 2012, returning to that position in 2015. She is a long-standing member of the Council for At-Risk Academics.

Peter Róna was the candidate of the opposition for the office of the President of Hungary in 2022. He teaches economics at Blackfriars Hall at Oxford University and researches the philosophical foundations of the social sciences. He previously served as the CEO of the First Hungary Fund, from which he retired in 2003. Between 2010 and 2015, he served as a member of the supervisory board of the Central Bank of Hungary. He became a Fellow of Blackfriars Hall in 2011.

Steven Pifer is an affiliate of Stanford’s Center for International Security and Cooperation, as well as a non-resident senior fellow of the Brookings Institution. A retired foreign service officer, Pifer spent more than 25 years in the State Department, including assignments as deputy assistant secretary of state with responsibility for Russia and Ukraine, ambassador to Ukraine, and special assistant to the president and senior director for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia on the National Security Council.

Panelist #4 – TBA

Michael Scott (moderator) is senior dean, fellow of Blackfriars Hall, Oxford, college adviser for postgraduate students, and a member of the Las Casas Institute. He also serves as senior adviser to the president of Georgetown University. Scott previously was the pro-vice-chancellor at De Montfort University and founding vice-chancellor of Wrexham Glyndwr University.

Sanford J. Ungar (moderator), president emeritus of Goucher College, is director of the Free Speech Project at Georgetown University, which documents challenges to free expression in American education, government, and civil society. Director of the Voice of America under President Bill Clinton, he was also dean of the American University School of Communication and is a former co-host of “All Things Considered” on NPR.

Contact:
Las Casas Institute with Georgetown University
lascasas@bfriars.ox.ac.uk