February 18, 2021
Cover to Cover Monthly Author Series

Russia Resurrected: Its Power and Purpose in a New Global Order

TODAY, February 18 | Live Online
2:00 to 3:00 PM ET
It seems that with every new administration, the United States undertakes a new Russia policy. As CNAS's Richard Fontaine notes, the Biden administration "is neither promising a reset nor dismissing Moscow as a second-tier power that can be cowed or ignored." But what will the combination of U.S. diplomacy, arms control agreements, pressure, and alliance management look like? What are the challenges to Putin's system, domestically and internationally? How will mass protests in Russia and the escalating confrontation between Putin and opposition figure Alexey Navalny influence U.S. policy?

In RUSSIA RESURRECTED: Its Power and Purpose in a New Global Order Stanford Professor Kathryn Stoner shows that Russia is neither as weak as we think, nor as strong as its leadership would like it to be viewed. From Russia's seizure of Crimea to its military support for the Assad regime in Syria, the country has reasserted itself as a major global power. Dr. Stoner offers an eye-opening reassessment of the country, identifying the actual sources of its power in international politics and why it has been able to redefine the post-Cold War global order.
Kathryn E. Stoner is the Deputy Director at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and a Senior Fellow at the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law, and at the Center for International Security and Cooperation, all at Stanford University. She is the author or co-editor of five books, including Transitions to Democracy: A Comparative Perspective, written and edited with Ambassador Michael A. McFaul, and Resisting the State: Reform and Retrenchment in Post-Soviet Russia.
 
The Wall Street Journal recently published an op-ed by Dr. Stoner: The U.S. Should Stop Underestimating Russian Power.

Praise from Michael McFaul, former U.S. Ambassador to Russia (2012-2014):
 
"Russian President Vladimir Putin is not playing a weak hand smartly when confronting the West, but deploying new and advanced military, cyber, diplomatic, and propaganda capabilities to pursue his dangerous, destabilizing, global agenda. Marshalling fresh empirical data and rethinking new methods for assessing power, Russia Resurrected should be a wakeup call for Western leaders, appear on every syllabus for courses on Russia, and be essential reading for anyone seeking to understand Russia in the world today."

To submit a question in advance for this Cover to Cover program, please e-mail lduncan@worldaffairscouncils.org.
Save the Date: Embassy Row Live!

Haiti: The Path to a Stronger Democracy
with Bocchit Edmond, Ambassador of Haiti to the U.S.

Tuesday, February 23 | Live Online
2:00 to 3:00 PM ET
EU Medium-Term Economic Outlook

Vaccine and New Policy Developments Fuel Optimism

Thursday, February 25 | Live Online
1:00 to 2:00 PM ET
As the global economy emerges from the pandemic, the EU has launched an ambitious Recovery Plan that will underpin strong growth and a green, digital transformation.

With the pace of vaccine distribution set to increase steadily over the coming months and a Brexit deal on the books, there is good reason to be optimistic about the future. Although the second wave of the pandemic will inevitably delay the recovery of the EU economy, green shoots are beginning to show and the outlook for the second half of 2021 looks rosy.
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