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On 3 June at 1500 CEST, Chatham House will continue a multi-part webinar series on their handbook on "Myths & Misconceptions in the Policy Debate on Russia: Why misperceptions occur, how they affect policy, and what can be done." This event will cover two of the myths identified and addressed in the handbook:
Abstract:
Western policy towards Russia often reflects flawed assessments, with potentially serious consequences for international security. Two key baseline assumptions provide a framework for many of these assessments: that Russia is not in conflict with the West, and that it must be possible to improve relations because both sides have some goals and aspirations in common. This event will examine the fundamentally irreconcilable differences between the West and Russia’s values and interests that make long-term, cooperative relations unlikely. Discussion will cover how the adversarial nature of Russian foreign policy does not lend itself to cooperation, leaving Moscow in indefinite confrontation with the West. It will explore how this is realised through unconventional hostile measures, such as undisguised electronic warfare, subversion or assassination, that avoid conflict but are far beyond normal peacetime activity.
Western policy towards Russia often reflects flawed assessments, with potentially serious consequences for international security. Two key baseline assumptions provide a framework for many of these assessments: that Russia is not in conflict with the West, and that it must be possible to improve relations because both sides have some goals and aspirations in common.
This event will examine the fundamentally irreconcilable differences between the West and Russia’s values and interests that make long-term, cooperative relations unlikely. Discussion will cover how the adversarial nature of Russian foreign policy does not lend itself to cooperation, leaving Moscow in indefinite confrontation with the West. It will explore how this is realised through unconventional hostile measures, such as undisguised electronic warfare, subversion or assassination, that avoid conflict but are far beyond normal peacetime activity.
Keir GilesSenior Consulting Fellow, Russia-Eurasia Programme, Chatham House
Keir Giles is a senior consulting fellow of the Russia and Eurasia Programme. Keir spent the early 1990s in the former USSR. With the BBC Monitoring Service, he reported on political and economic affairs in the former Soviet Union for UK government customers. He also wrote for several years as a Russia correspondent for UK aviation journals. Other professional experience in Russia includes a period with Ernst & Young working on intricate and constantly shifting Russian business law. While attached to the UK Defense Academy's Research and Assessment Branch (R&AB), he wrote and briefed for UK and overseas government and academic customers on Russian military, defense and security issues; Russia's relations with NATO and with its neighbors in Northern Europe; and human factors affecting decision-making in Russia. In addition to Keir's work with Chatham House, he leads the Conflict Studies Research Centre, a group of subject matter experts in Eurasian security.
Mathieu BoulègueResearch Fellow, Russia and Eurasia ProgrammeChatham House
Before joining Chatham House, Mathieu was a partner at the risk management and strategic research consultancy AESMA, where he worked as director of Eurasian affairs.
In his research, Mathieu focuses particularly on Eurasian security and defence issues as well as on Russia’s domestic and foreign policy. Having trained as a policy and security analyst in the field of post-Soviet affairs, Mathieu regularly publishes articles and papers on Eurasian security & foreign policy questions. He is also a frequent invited speaker at conferences and events around the world.
He graduated from Sciences Po Toulouse in France and King’s College London (M.A. International Conflict Studies).
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