COURSE – Lecture Series Program 2026 at Leiden University/Campus The Hague
An Attempt at Democracy: Russia 1989–1999: Economics and Politics of Russia at home and abroad
This European lecture series explores politics, society, economics, history, culture, and media in Russia during the transformative decade of the 1990s. Through a series of public lectures, it examines the key developments that shaped post-Soviet Russia, the processes that drove its transition, and the consequences of these changes. The series provides an opportunity to look beyond the events themselves and to understand how and why the transformation unfolded, how different aspects of Russian society were affected, and how the legacies of the 1990s continue to shape Russia today. NB All lectures are in Russian language without translation.
Registration obligatory: https://forms.gle/TajoSyH3t9Gs5k5V7.
September 11, Friday
Leiden University, Campus The Hague, Spui building, room 3B.38
13:30–13:45 — Introduction & Welcome
13:45–15:15 — Anatoly Chubais — economist and politician
Topic: The Russian Economy of the 1990s
15:15–15:45 — Coffee break
15:45–17:15 — Sergey Petrov — founder of Rolf, businessman
Topic: Ethics and Business
17:15–17:30 — Coffee break
17:30–19:00 — Irina Busygina — professor, research scholar, Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University
Topic: The Collapse of the Soviet Union: Origins, Consequences, and Aftermath
September 12, Saturday
Leiden University, Campus The Hague, Spui building, room 3B.38
10:00–10:15 — Introduction & Welcome
10:15–11:45 — Nina Khrushcheva — professor of International Affairs at New School University in New York
Topic: Lifting the “Iron Curtain”: Ten Years of Illusions — Russia, the West, and the Turnaround Over the Atlantic (1989–1999)
11:45–12.00 — Coffee break
12:00–13:30 — Sergey Vakulenko - Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center in Berlin
Topic: Formation of the oil and gas trading system and its consequences for relations with the West
13:30–14:30 — Lunch
14:30–16:00 — Lecture 6, TBC
