Russian Roulette

On today's episode, Max and Maria give their initial takes on the news that U.S. and Russian negotiators met in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on February 18 to begin efforts to reach a diplomatic resolution to the war in Ukraine, notably without representatives from Ukraine or European nations present. This episode was recorded on February 18, as this story was still developing.

Max and Maria spoke with historian Sergey Radchenko about his latest book, To Run the World: The Kremlin's Cold War Bid for Global Power, and how the study of Soviet foreign policy can help us understand Russia's current approach to global affairs. Sergey's book is available for purchase from Cambridge University Press.

Maria spoke with Hanna Notte and Natasha Hall about the new balance of forces in the Middle East at the start of 2025, and what the current geopolitical situation in the region means for Russia.

Max and Maria were joined by Dr. Sam Greene to reflect on a quarter century of Putinism in Russia, how Vladimir Putin's rule has changed the country, and where his regime might be headed from here. Follow Sam's writing on Substack by subscribing to his blog, TL;DRussia.

Max and Maria were joined by Russian military expert Michael Kofman to discuss where the war in Ukraine may be headed in the year to come. With a new administration in Washington and political turmoil across Europe, Russia continuing to make grinding gains on the battlefield, and calls for some sort of negotiated settlement rising, the next six months could prove critical to the future direction o...

Max and Maria speak with Dara Massicot, one of the leading experts on the Russian military and the war in Ukraine. Dara gives updates on the efforts of both sides to make gains on the battlefield, along with the current risks of escalation as we head into 2025. This conversation was recorded on December 3, 2024.

 Max and Maria speak with Michael Kimmage to take stock of the impact of the recent U.S. elections on the future of the war in Ukraine, and U.S. policy towards Russia. "An Outcome 'Up for Grabs': What Can Russia and Ukraine Expect from the Next U.S. Administration?" by Maria Snegovaya, Tina Dolbaia, and Nick Fenton (Center for Strategic and International Studies)

Max and Maria spoke with Sorin Ioniță and Eto Buziashvili about the recent election results coming out of Moldova and Georgia. Both of these post-Soviet states find themselves at a geopolitical crossroads, with Russian malign influence campaigns directly impacting their domestic politics.

Max and Maria with Ben Cahill and Eddie Fishman about the current state of Russia's energy industry, and the prospects for the country's lucrative hydrocarbon exports. They also assessed the impacts of Western sanctions on the industry to date and ways those sanctions could potentially be tightened going forward. This conversation was recorded on October 7, 2024. Chokepoints: American Power in the...

This week, Maria sat down with Sergey Aleksashenko and Alexandra Prokopenko to discuss the Russian central bank's continued inability to reign in domestic inflation, and what it means for Russia's economy and war effort going forward.

On this week's episode, Max and Maria are joined by Andrea Kendall-Taylor to discuss Russian collaboration with China, Iran, and North Korea, and the key role that these partnerships are playing in sustaining Russia's invasion of Ukraine and post-2022 foreign policy strategy. "The Axis of Upheaval: How America's Adversaries Are Uniting to Overturn the Global Order," by Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Ri...

This week, Max and Maria were joined by military analysts Michael Kofman and Rob Lee to discuss the latest phase of the war in Ukraine. Max and Maria asked them for their thoughts on the ongoing Ukrainian offensive in Kursk, and whether or not this seizure of Russian territory by Kyiv exposes Russian threats of escalation as hollow. If they are hollow, does that mean Western "red lines" on certain...

Max and Maria sat down with Sam Bendett and Mick Ryan to discuss the Ukrainian military's recent seizure of territory in Kursk Oblast, inside Russia. They discussed how this attack took place, the risks and potential gains at stake for the Ukrainian side, and what this could all mean for the war going forward. Check out Mick's latest book, "The War for Ukraine: Strategy and Adaptation Under Fire."...

This week, Maria sat down with investigative journalists Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan. Andrei and Irina gave their analysis of the recent high-profile Russia-West prisoner swap, and also discussed the threat of Russian hybrid attacks on Western countries. Additionally, they described the complex relationship between the Russian state and the Russian community in emigration, and outlined how t...

 Max and Maria sat down with Jade McGlynn to discuss her recent report for CSIS, "Crossing Thresholds: Ukrainian Resistance to Russian Occupation." "Crossing Thresholds: Ukrainian Resistance to Russian Occupation," by Jade McGlynn on CSIS.org.  "The Ukrainian resistance is torching Putin's dreams of conquest," by Jade McGlynn for The Telegraph.

On this week's episode, Max and Michael Kimmage sat down with Dmitri Alperovitch, chairman of Silverado Policy Institute, to discuss Dmitri's recent book, "World on the Brink: How America Can Beat China in the Race for the Twenty-First Century." Recorded on July 2, 2024, the conversation covers the geopolitical parallels between the European and Indo-Pacific theaters today, and what the dual strat...

 Maria recently sat down with sanctions expert Eddie Fishman and economist Sergey Aleksashenko to provide a timely update on the evolving sanctions regime leveled against Russia. (Recorded on June 18, 2024.)

This week, Max sat down for a public conversation with Hanna Notte and Jon B. Alterman to discuss how the governments of Russia and Iran have strengthened their political, economic, and security collaboration since the launch of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Maria sat down with Russian independent journalist and author Mikhail Zygar, and University of Oxford professor Christopher Davis, to discuss the recent string of anti-corruption charges at the Russian Ministry of Defense, and the replacement of Sergei Shoigu with Andrei Belousov at the ministry’s head. What does all this mean for the current composition of the Russian elite, and what impact will...

 On May 2, 2024, Maria sat down with Michael Kimmage and Mary Elise Sarotte to discuss Michael's newest book, "Collisions the Origins of the War in Ukraine, and the New Global Instability." "Collisions" is available for purchase from Oxford University Press.

For today's special bonus episode, Max sat down with Tinatin Japaridze and Eto Buziashvili to discuss the ongoing protests taking place in Georgia. Georgian civil society is mobilizing yet again in opposition to the controversial "foreign agents" law being pushed by the ruling Georgian Dream party.

Today, Max and Maria were joined by Tina Dolbaia and Nick Fenton, two members of the team at CSIS, to discuss the CSIS Europe, Russia, and Eurasia program's latest report, "Back in Stock? The State of Russia's Defense Industry after Two Years of the War." 

On this week's episode, Max and Maria sat down with Roman Dobrokhotov, the founder and editor-in-chief of the Russia-focused investigative media outlet, The Insider. Roman's team, along with colleagues at CBS's 60 Minutes and the German outlet Der Spiegel, recently concluded an investigation that uncovered evidence potentially linking Russia's military intelligence agency, the GRU, with the health...

Max and Maria sat down with Paul Schwartz and Sam Bendett to discuss the different technological and tactical battlefield innovations taking place in Ukraine today, and what they mean for military analysts studying the war. Disclaimer: Paul and Sam's views as expressed in this episode are their own, and do not necessarily represent the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA).

Nicolas Véron of Bruegel and the Peterson Institute for International Economics joined Max to discuss the ongoing debate over Russia's frozen central bank reserves. This conversation was recorded on March 15, 2024. See "The European Union should do better than confiscate Russia's reserve money" by Nicolas Véron for Bruegel. At the time of this episode's publication, the European Council met for a...