Post-Soviet Russia: Perceptions and Prejudices

Photo by Felipe Simo on Unsplash

Hosted by Manning Clark House.

About the Event

Vilifying the governance of post-Soviet Russia is deeply embedded in many Western analyses of the country’s domestic and foreign policies. The prevailing assumption is that, under President Putin’s leadership, the Kremlin has reverted to a Tsarist-style authoritarianism, which has undermined the path towards the institutionalisation of constitutional democracy. 

Dr Dorothy Horsfield will argue that such claims are more revealing of the West’s abiding ignorance and geopolitical dogmatism than any attempt to understand the complex realities of Russia’s contemporary political culture.  Her talk will focus on two areas. The first is the intellectual debates among the country’s elite about the challenges in the transition to a stable, modernised state. The second is a look at the related issue of how the Russian economy is faring in this transition.

About the Speaker

Dr Dorothy Horsfield is a Foundation Fellow of the Australian Studies Institute at the Australian National University. She is a member of the Steering Committee of the university’s Emeritus Faculty. She has a Master of Strategic Affairs (Hons) from ANU, a Master of Science (Hons) from London School of Economics and Political Science, and a PhD in Post-Soviet Russia from ANU. She has worked as a journalist in Moscow, the UK, Berlin, Abu Dhabi, Afghanistan, the Thai-Burma border and Australia.

She is author of five books of both fiction and non-fiction.  Her most recent book, Russia in the Wake of the Cold War – Perceptions and Prejudices, was published in 2017 and reissued in paperback last year.

Booking essential:  MCH members $10, Concession (Govt Support) & full-time students $12, Non-members $15.00

Refreshments will be provided but please bring your own glass, due to COVID restrictions.

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Updated:  27 April 2021/Responsible Officer:  Institute Director/Page Contact:  CASS Marketing & Communications