This week, our guest is Dmitry Novikov, Deputy Head of the School of International Relations at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, Russia. We discuss the difficulties of being an Americanist in Moscow, the sources of US-Russian conflict, and Russia’s future as a “Eurasian” power, among other subjects.

Time Stamps:

• 00:00:38 What is like being an Americanist in Moscow right now?
• 00:04:22 Russian perceptions of US domestic politics
• 00:08:44 Russia’s “realist” understanding of international relations
• 00:10:51 Russia’s efforts to join the West
• 00:20:05 Russia as a Eurasian state
• 00:23:20 When did Russia begin to pivot East?
• 00:28:08 Russia as logistics corridor, security provider, and source of raw materials
• 00:39:17 Need for stabilization with the West
• 00:44:00 A new Russian identity?
• 00:49:13 The growing importance of Islam in Russia
• 00:53:00 The Cold War “lessons” that drive US and Russian elites

*The Monterey Trialogue Podcast is hosted by the Middlebury Institute of International Studies and produced by University FM.