As covid-19 arrives, Putin disappears – Russia in the age of corona.
How is Russia dealing with covid-19? What impact does the pandemic have on the other underlying political issues in Russia – such as the change of the constitution and Putin’s decision to essentially stay in power until 2036? Our ECFR experts also point out the strange absence of the Russian leader from the fight against corona – has covid-19 as well as the oil price crisis caused more turbulence and chaos in the country as he wants to admit? Host Mark Leonard, Gustav Gressel, Kadri Liik and Nicu Popescu come forward with analyses and predictions: if the EU doesn’t handle the crisis well, could Russia have been right in its Hobbsian view of the world?
This podcast was recorded on 8 April 2020.
Check out our “Dive Deep into Russia” lecture series by the ECFR Wider Europe Programme!
Bookshelf:
- “The Idiot” by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
- “The Rise and Fall of 'Neutral' Sweden's Secret Reserve Option of Wartime Help from the West” by Robert Dalsjö
- “Чужая и наша война – Сборник стихотворений и песен о военной операции Вооружённых Сил Российской Федерации против международных террористов в Сирийской Арабской Республике” by Сост. В.А. Силкин
- “Why Russians don't get coronavirus” by Albatros
- “Summertime” by JM Coetzee
- “Discovering Judith Shklar sceptical liberalism of fear” by Samantha Ashenden & Andreas Hess
