What's Past Is Prologue: The West and Russia

What’s Past Is Prologue: The West and Russia

The philosopher Ivan Krastev has observed that following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the west has moved from one extreme of having no Ukraine policy to another extreme of having no Russia policy. While some form of future relationship with Russia is inevitable, it is not obvious what shape it should take, or that the west will be able to find consensus on this. Domestic forces may drive the US and Europe to disagree, and Europe itself to be divided. But the rich history of the intertwined relationships between the US, Europe, and Russia may offer patterns on which to build.

Speakers

Sergey Radchenko

Wilson E. Schmidt Distinguished Professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies

Gunda Reire

Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia

Mary Elise Sarotte

Fellow at the Belfer Center and Center for European Studies at Harvard

Sergey Utkin

Associate Professor for International Politics at the Department of Political Science and Public Management at the University of Southern Denmark

Moderator

Carl Bildt

Co-chair of the European Council on Foreign Relations

What can we learn from the historical relationships between the US, Europe, and Russia to guide the construction of a stable future? What shape might EU-US relations take and how will the west’s dealings with Russia be impacted by them? How will they be affected by relations with China? How can we preserve western cohesion in dealing with Russia?

“… to perform an act
Whereof what’s past is prologue, what to come
In yours and my discharge.”
William Shakespeare, The Tempest (c. 1610-1611)