Events

17 March Putin is scheduled to be elected president of the Russian Federation for yet another six years in office, in spite of launching a devastating war against Ukraine and letting oppositional politician Alexei Navalny die in prison. Putin will be the eighth president of Russia since the fall of communism, but he was also the seventh, the sixth, the fourth and the third. Since the start of this millennium he has ruled the country in an increasingly authoritarian way. Elections in Russia have since become a farce, a kind of political theatre or circus that has little to do with democracy. The field of candidates is tightly controlled, opposition politicians sidelined, jailed or murdered and the election results are falsified. How did this come about? When was democracy lost in Russia – or was it perhaps an empty letter from the very start? What purposes do elections serve in Russia's political system if not the election of the country's leaders? On March 13 the IISH and the Moscow Times jointly organize an event to reflect on Russia's presidential elections, past, present and future. With presentations by Gijs Kessler and Mikhail Fishman, followed by a panel discussion with Samantha Berkhead, Alexander Gubsky, and Kristina Petrasova.

Two years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the war continues to cause extreme civilian harm and military casualties and has changed Ukrainian society to the core. Two years of war in Europe also changed perceptions of NATO and the defence policies of European countries, whilst the EU decided to open accession negotiations with Ukraine. Yet, war in the Middle East and rising tensions in Asia have also directed international attention away from Ukraine. Promised weapon deliveries materialise slower than foreseen, and public support for Ukraine is not as self-evident as it was just after the invasion.

What is the history and consequences of NATO’s post-Cold War enlargement into Central and Eastern Europe?

European Energy Security, Economic Statecraft, and Relations with the United States in the Wake of Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine

De oorlog in Oekraïne houdt de hele wereld in zijn greep. De enorme gevolgen zijn overal voelbaar. Maar ontwikkelt de oorlog zich verder? En wat wordt onze toekomstige relatie met Rusland?

Vladimir Poetin heeft een vernietigende oorlog in Oekraïne ontketend met ongekende gevolgen. Heeft hij een duidelijk einddoel? En tot hoever gaan zijn vertrouwelingen met hem mee?

De oorlog in Oekraïne escaleert elke dag verder. De Russische invasie zet de wereld totaal op z’n kop en heeft ongekende gevolgen. Wat kunnen na twee weken oorlog concluderen? Hoe sterk zijn het Russische leger en de Oekraïense tegenstand nu werkelijk?