US-Russia Strategic Competition
The Russia Challenge
Once thought to have been on the path to becoming a democratic, capitalist state, Russia remains a preeminent global challenge to the United States. Every American president has entered office committed to resetting relations with Russia only for the relationship to become more acrimonious. Today, relations may be at their lowest point in nearly four decades. Thirty years after the end of the Cold War and two decades into Vladimir Putin’s reign, Washington seems to have finally realized that the Russian challenge is enduring. What is the nature of the Russian challenge to the United States? What are Russia’s objectives, strengths, and weaknesses? In a competition that spans Europe, the Middle East, and even America’s homeland, what do we need to understand about Russia in order to achieve our own objectives? Fellows will learn about the history of U.S.-Russian relations, the nature of the Russian political regime, the role of oil, Russian military and nuclear doctrine and developments, and the current status of relations.
Seminar details
Taught by leading scholars in the field, each SSS will consist of 15 evening sessions that meet from September-May and will afford participating fellows an opportunity to gain a breadth of knowledge on critical subjects, forge relationships with senior scholars and practitioners, sharpen analytical frameworks through written and oral arguments, and build a cohort with their peers. Through the lens of strategic competition with Russia, fellows will examine:
What are our goals and how do we achieve them?
What does the strategic competition look like? What are we competing over?
What do we need to understand about our adversary in order to achieve our goals?
Fellows will be responsible for around 50 pages of reading for each session and will be required to write two short essays over the course of the program. SSS will consist of 15 evening sessions held on Wednesday evenings from 6:00pm-8:30pm, running from September 2021 to May 2022. If the ongoing public health crisis prevents in-person gatherings, SSS will operate via virtual platforms.
