Abstract:
The workshop will assess Russian modern military capabilities and vulnerabilities through an examination of the military’s ability to effectively employ advanced technologies and employ modern military R&D. It will focus particularly on military innovation and breakthrough technology, Russia’s ‘doomsday’ weapons, autonomous systems, space-based systems, as well as AI-assisted tools. The workshop will also discuss their impact for the U.S. and its NATO allies in terms of military thinking and procurement. Workshop Moderation by Mathieu Boulegue. Katarzyna Zysk - Military R&D, innovation and breakthrough technology Richard Connolly - Russia’s ‘new’ doomsday systems and their military implication Pavel Podvig - Space and space-based systems Samuel Bendett - Autonomous systems and military robotics Margirita Konaev - AI, big data and advanced computer science
The workshop will assess Russian modern military capabilities and vulnerabilities through an examination of the military’s ability to effectively employ advanced technologies and employ modern military R&D. It will focus particularly on military innovation and breakthrough technology, Russia’s ‘doomsday’ weapons, autonomous systems, space-based systems, as well as AI-assisted tools. The workshop will also discuss their impact for the U.S. and its NATO allies in terms of military thinking and procurement. Workshop Moderation by Mathieu Boulegue.
Biographies
Katarzyna ZyskProfessor of International Relations and Contemporary HistoryNorwegian Institute for Defence Studies
Dr Katarzyna Zysk is Professor of International Relations and Contemporary History at the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies (IFS), which is a part of the Norwegian Defence University College (NDUC) in Oslo. She has been at the IFS since 2007. Currently, she serves as Deputy Director (since 2017) and Head of the Cetnre for Security, and was Director of Research at the IFS (2017–19). Prof. Zysk was a Visiting Scholar at the Center for International Security and Cooperation/Stanford University and a Visiting Research Fellow at the Changing Character of War Centre/ University of Oxford (2016–17). She is a member of the Hoover Institution’s Arctic Security Initiative and was a Research Fellow at the Center for Naval Warfare Studies/Strategic Research Department at the US Naval War College, where she also cooperated closely with the War Gaming Department. In 2016, she was Acting Dean of the NDUC, where she also teaches regularly. In 2015, she received Chief of the Norwegian Defence University College's Teaching Award.
Following her PhD on NATO enlargement (2006), Prof. Zysk’s research has focused on security, defence and strategic studies, in particular Russia’s military strategy, warfare, the Russian Navy, geopolitics and maritime security in the Arctic, as well as military change and defence innovation. Her published research has appeared in SAIS Review of International Affairs, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Journal of Strategic Studies, Asia Policy, RUSI Journal, Politique Etrangère, International Relations, Jane’s Navy International, and others, including in books published by Cambridge and Oxford University Presses.
Richard ConnollyDirectorEastern Advisory Group
Dr. Richard Connolly is director of Eastern Advisory Group and an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London. He was previously director of the Centre for Russian, European and Eurasian Studies (CREES) at the University of Birmingham and an associate fellow on the Russia and Eurasia Program at Chatham House. He is a specialist on the Russian economy.His research interests include economic policy, industrial development, and the development of the defence and energy industries in Russia, the impact of Western sanctions on the Russian economy, and Russia’s role in the global economy.His most recent books are Russia’s Response to Sanctions, published by Cambridge University Press in 2018, and the Very Short Introduction to the Russian Economy, published by Oxford University Press in 2020. His next book, entitled Russian Economic Power, is scheduled for publication by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).
Pavel PodvigIndependent Analyst
Pavel Podvig is an independent analyst based in Geneva, where he runs his research project, "Russian Nuclear Forces." He is also a Senior Research Fellow at the UN Institute for Disarmament Research and a researcher with the Program on Science and Global Security at Princeton University. Pavel Podvig started his work on arms control at the Center for Arms Control Studies at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT), which was the first independent research organization in Russia dedicated to analysis of technical issues of disarmament and nonproliferation. Pavel Podvig led the Center for Arms Control Studies project that produced the book, Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces (MIT Press, 2001). In recognition of his work in Russia, the American Physical Society awarded Podvig the Leo Szilard Lectureship Award of 2008 (with Anatoli Diakov). Podvig worked with the Program on Science and Global Security at Princeton University, the Security Studies Program at MIT, and the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University. His current research focuses on the Russian strategic forces and nuclear weapons complex, as well as technical and political aspects of nuclear nonproliferation, disarmament, missile defense, and U.S.-Russian arms control process. Pavel Podvig is a member of the International Panel on Fissile Materials. He has a physics degree from MIPT and PhD in political science from the Moscow Institute of World Economy and International Relations.
Sam BendettAnalyst, Adversary Analysis GroupCNA
Samuel Bendett is an Analyst with CNA's Adversary Analysis Group, where he is a member of the Russia Studies Program. He is also an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security. His work involves research on the Russian defense and technology developments, unmanned and autonomous military systems and Artificial Intelligence, as well as Russian military capabilities and decision-making during crises. He is also a Member of CNA’s Center for Autonomy and Artificial Intelligence, and an honorary Mad Scientist with the USARMY TRADOC’s Mad Scientist Initiative.Prior to joining CNA, Mr. Bendett worked at the National Defense University on emerging and disruptive technologies for the Department of Defense response in domestic and international crisis situations. His previous experience includes working for US Congress, private sector and non-profit organizations on foreign policy, international conflict resolution, defense and security issues.Mr. Bendett’s analyses, views and commentary on Russian military robotics, unmanned systems and Artificial Intelligence capabilities appear in the Forbes, C4ISRnet, DefenseOne, War on the Rocks, Breaking Defense, The National Interest and The Strategy Bridge. Between 2008 and 2016, he was a foreign policy and international affairs contributor to the RealClearWorld.com blog.Samuel Bendett received his M.A. in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School, Tufts University and B.A. in Politics and English from Brandeis University. He has native fluency in Russian.
Margarita KonaevResearch Fellow, Center for Security and Emerging TechnologyGeorgetown University
Dr. Margarita Konaev is a Research Fellow at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET) interested in military applications of AI and Russian military innovation. Previously, she was a Non-Resident Fellow with the Modern War Institute at West Point, a post-doctoral fellow at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perry World House. Before joining CSET, she worked as a Senior Principal in the Marketing and Communications practice at Gartner.Margarita’s research on international security, armed conflict, non-state actors and urban warfare in the Middle East, Russia and Eurasia has been published by the Journal of Strategic Studies, the Journal of Global Security Studies, Conflict Management and Peace Science, the French Institute of International Relations, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Lawfare, War on the Rocks, Defense One, Modern War Institute, Foreign Policy Research Institute and a range of other outlets. She holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Notre Dame, an M.A. in Conflict Resolution from Georgetown University and a B.A. from Brandeis University.