Is Russia inherently imperialist and expansionist? Russia wasn’t forced to invade Ukraine, but its leaders chose to do so because they want Russia to become a great power. If Russian elites could somehow relinquish their unwinnable competition with the West, they could set their country on a less costly and more promising course.

For more information, visit the PolicyEd page here: https://www.policyed.org/policy-stories/history-behind-russias-expansionary-foreign-policy/video

Additional resources:

Read “Russia’s Perpetual Geopolitics: Putin Returns to the Historical Pattern,” by Stephen Kotkin via Foreign Affairs. Available here: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/ukraine/2016-04-18/russias-perpetual-geopolitics.

Read “Weakness and Grandeur,” by Stephen Kotkin. Available here: https://www.hoover.org/research/weakness-and-grandeur.

Watch or listen to “Pesci-ent Knowledge: Stephen Kotkin On Xi’s China, Putin’s Russia,” on GoodFellows. Available here: https://www.hoover.org/research/pesci-ent-knowledge-stephen-kotkin-xis-china-putins-russia.

Watch “Why Putin Invaded Ukraine,” with Michael McFaul. Available here: https://www.policyed.org/policy-stories/why-putin-invaded-ukraine/video.

Watch “Second Fronts in Great-Power Conflicts,” on PolicyEd. Available here: https://www.policyed.org/unarchived/second-fronts-great-power-conflicts/video.

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