Reading Russia Right

One-day conference

 

Russia’s annexation of Crimea and subsequent war in Eastern Ukraine in 2014 ignited a fierce international debate on how to view Russia’s foreign policy. The idea of the conference is to further this debate and to discuss a range of topics related to the questions on how to understand Russian foreign and security policy.

 

The first panel “Russian strategic and military culture” takes a look at how Russia’s foreign and security policy is shaped and discuss how Russian strategic culture and military thought affects Russia’s approach to modern warfare. The second panel “Russian military capability” discusses various aspects of Russia’s military capabilities, from its nuclear policy and its approach to the Arctic to its ability to establish an area of anti-access/access denial (A2/AD) in the Baltic Sea Area. With this, we hope to facilitate a discussion of if, to what extent, and in what way, Russia is a challenge to NATO.

 

Time and date: November 26th 2019 at 9:00 to 15:00

Location: Royal Danish Defense College, Svanemøllens Kaserne, building 118, Copenhagen

 

Programme

  • 09.00 – 09.10 – Welcome / Henrik Ryberg, Rear Admiral, Commandant, Royal Danish Defence College
  • 09.10 – 09.20 – Today’s programme / Jørgen Staun, Associate Professor, Institute for Strategy, Royal Danish Defence College (RDDC)
  • 09.20 – 09.50 – Key note: When logic and rationality clash: The dynamics of Russian domestic and foreign policy / Richard Sakwa, Professor of Russian and European Politics, University of Kent                
  • 09.50-10.00 – Break

 

Panel 1: Russian strategic and military culture

  • 10.00 – 10.20 – The culture of strategic thought behind Russia’s modern approaches to warfare / Stephen V. Covington, Strategic fellow, Harvard Kennedy School, Belfer Center, Adviser to Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers, Europe
  • 10.20 – 10.40 – Russian military thought on future war / Gudrun Persson, Deputy Research Director, Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI)
  • 10.40 – 11.00 – Russia’s military revival / Bettina Renz, Associate Professor, University of Nottingham’s School of Politics and International Relations
  • 11.00 – 11.15 – Break
  • 11.15 – 12.00 – Q&A / Chair: Jørgen Staun, RDDC
  • 12.00 – 13.00 – Lunch (Host: speakers only)

 

Panel II: Russian military capability

  • 13.00 – 13.20 – Escalation and nuclear weapons in Russia’s military strategy / Katarzyna Zysk, Professor, Deputy Director, Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies
  • 13.20 – 13.40 – Russia’s rearmament in the Arctic – what does it mean? / Mathieu Boulègue, Research Fellow, Russia and Eurasia Programme, Chatham House
  • 13.40 – 14.10 – Busting the Bubble. Russian A2/AD capability in the Baltic Sea Region / Robert Dalsjö, Deputy Director of Studies, Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI)
  • 14.10 – 14.20 – Break
  • 14.20 – 15.00 – Q&A / Chair: Niels Bo Poulsen, Director, Institute for Military History and War Studies, Royal Danish Defence College (RDDC)

 

The conference is part of the syllabus of the RDDC master students, but is open to the general public in a limited number. Registration will be completed at the entrance.

 

Registration
Deadline for registration is November 21st at 12.00.

If you have any questions, please contact Jørgen Staun: jmst@fak.dk

Please note: Chatham House Rule applies to the conference.

 

 

 

Registration