PONARS Eurasia Spring Policy Conference (March 25)

“Domestic Politics in the Shadow of Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine”

Agenda | Friday, March 25, 2022

GW Elliott School Hybrid Event (online and in-person)

8:45-9:00 Coffee available for early arrivals

9:00-9:15 Introductions

9:15-10:30 Panel I: Better Understanding Ukraine

Serhiy Kudelia, Baylor University (Virtual)
Putin’s Occupation Options for Ukraine: Keep or Trade?

Volodymyr Kulyk, National Academy of Sciences, Ukraine (Virtual)
National Unity and Anti-Russian sentiment in Ukraine after Russia’s Full-Blown Invasion

Mikhail Alexseev, San Diego State University
Trends in Support for Fighting to Recover Occupied Territories

Olga Onuch, University of Manchester (Virtual)
The Zelenskyy Effect: Why political attitudes and policy preferences shifted among Ukrainians 2019-2022

Chair: Marlene Laruelle, George Washington University

10:30-10:45 Coffee Break

10:45-12:30 Panel II: Russian State Narratives and Mass Responses

Yoshiko Herrera and Marat Iliyasov, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Creeping Finlandization or Pragmatic Foreign Policy: Georgia’s Strategic Challenges amid the Ukrainian Crisis

Scott Radnitz, University of Washington
Pretexts and Pretenses in Putin’s Casus Belli for Invading Ukraine

Henry E. Hale, George Washington University
How Conservative Are Russians?

Olga Iakimova, Fulbright Visiting Scholar
Labor Migrants in Times of the Pandemic in Russia: Dynamics, Initiatives by the Authorities, and Public Opinion

Sarah Wilson Sokhey, University of Colorado Boulder
Repression with Rewards: Social Policy & the Russian Government’s Illiberal Strategy

Chair: Theodore P. Gerber, University of Wisconsin-Madison

12:30-1:30 Lunch Break

1:30-2:45 Panel III-A: Repression and Manipulation in Russia and Belarus

Theodore P. Gerber, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Hannah Chapman, Miami University (Ohio)
Preserving Russian Scholarship on Contemporary Russia Outside of Russia: Why It is Necessary and What Should Be Done

Samuel Greene, King’s College London
The Informational Dictator’s Dilemma: Citizen Responses to Media Censorship, Cooptation and Marginalization in Russia and Belarus

Yulia Khalikova, University of Wisonconsin-Madison
Russia and the Limits of International Law

Katie Stewart, Knox College
Strengths and Weaknesses of Securitizing Culture to Enhance Regime Legitimacy

Chair: Henry E. Hale, George Washington University

1:30-2:45 Panel III-B: Elites in Russia’s Political System

Richard Arnold, Muskingum University
The Spread of Russia’s Cossack Movement

Kirill Melnikov, Institute of Philosophy and Law, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Yekaterinburg, Russia).
The ‘Unified System of Public Power’: Driving Forces and Implications of Redefining Russian Federalism

Gulnaz Sharafutdinova, King’s College London
Can Religious Authorities Help with Covid-19 Vaccination? Lessons from the Muslims in Tatarstan (Russia)

Maria Snegovaya, George Washington University, and Nikolay Petrov, Chatham House
The Nomenklatura Origins of Putinite Elites

Chair: Sarah Wilson Sokhey, University of Colorado Boulder

2:45-3:00 Coffee Break

3:00-3:45 Panel IV: Unrest in Kazakhstan and Its Implications

Azamat K. Junisbai, Pitzer College
Limits of Authoritarian Learning: Making Sense of January 2022 Events in Kazakhstan

Dinissa Duvanova, Lehigh University, and Barbara Junisbai, Pitzer College
The Repertoire of Repression in Post-Soviet Autocracies: What Can We Learn from Kazakhstan’s Failed Coup?

Chair: Samuel Greene, King’s College London

3:45-5:00 Panel V: Prospects for Opposition and Protest in Russia

Irina Busygina, Higher School of Economics and Ekaterina Paustyan, University of Bremen (Virtual)
Ready to Protest? Explaining Protest Potential in Russian Regional Capitals

Stephen Crowley, Oberlin College
From Stability to Stagnation: Economic Reform and the Fear of Social Protest in Russia

Robert W. Orttung, George Washington University
International Society Must Act in the Wake of Russia’s Failed Opposition

Andrei Semenov, Center for Comparative History and Politics, Perm (Virtual)
Contentious Cities: Urban Conflicts in Russian Millionniks

Chair: Gulnaz Sharafutdinova, King’s College London