Oktoberlezing 2020 door Yekaterina Schulmann

Rode Hoed

This event was organised by Raam op Rusland (Window on Russia) and de Rode Hoed, and sponsored by WE Jansenfonds. Distinguished Russian political scientist Yekaterina Schulmann in conversation with journalist Chris Kijne. How to read Russia? Do we understand how the country is governed? Is Putin still the guarantee for stability? Will a young generation change and modernize Russia? How do Russians look at Europe and how do they look at the US? The year 2020 has been mindboggling, also in Russia. Putin tightened his control over Russian society and orchestrated a constitutional coup in which he annulled his own presidential terms to be able to reign till 2036. But not all was under control. The COVID-19 virus hits Russia hard, in Khabarovsk people have been protesting the arrest of their governor for months now. Relations with the West soured after the poisoning of Alexei Navalny. And in Russia’s Near Abroad there was upheaval too: in Belarus, the Caucasus, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan. - Edit & theme song by Theo Langejans