Week 7: Tuesday 27 February
Dealing with the Russians
Dr Andrew Monaghan (Oxford)
Seminars at 1.00pm, Seminar Room G, Manor Road Building, Oxford A light sandwich lunch is served at 12.50pm. All are welcome.
How to deal with Russia? This question has become increasingly urgent since Russia's annexation of Crimea and the subsequent accelerating sense of competition between the Euro-Atlantic community and Russia. Senior Western officials and politicians assert that the Russian leadership is prone to risk taking, even gambling, with the consequence that Russia is acting erratically, unpredictably, and aggressively. There has been much talk of the threat posed by a revisionist Russia, and while some advocate the need for renewed dialogue, much of the thrust is that there can be no return to "business as usual" and collective defence and deterrence should be the main features of Euro-Atlantic policy.
This lecture explores the nature of the relationship between the Euro-Atlantic community and Russia and how to "deal with the Russians". It will reflect on the nature of the Russian policy - and suggest that this is often misdiagnosed by Euro-Atlantic observers, and then explore the extent to which dialogue may be possible and what deterrence might look like.
Dr Andrew Monaghan is the Director of Research on Russia and Northern European Defence and Security at the Oxford Changing Character of War Centre at Pembroke College. He has previously held positions as Senior Research Fellow in the Russia and Eurasia Programme at Chatham House (2013-April 2017) and leading the Russia related research in the Research Division of the NDC (2006-2012). In this role, he was also the NDC’s senior researcher on energy security matters. He has also served as an expert witness to several parliamentary committees including the UK’s National Security Strategy Committee, the House of Commons Defence and Foreign Affairs Select Committees, and NATO’s Parliamentary Assembly. He is widely published, and is the author of the books Power in Modern Russia: Strategy and Mobilisation, (MUP, 2017), The New Politics of Russia – Interpreting Change (MUP, 2016) and The Elements of Impact. Making Your Point in Public Speaking and Writing (2015). He received his PhD in Russian foreign policy (Russian perspectives of Russia-EU security relations) from the Department of War Studies, King’s College, from where he also obtained an MA in War Studies, graduating with the Simon O’Dwyer Russell prize.
