Richard Sakwa is Professor of Russian and European politics at the University of Kent and associate fellow of the Russia and Eurasia program at Chatham House. He is renowned for his nuanced and incisive analysis of Russian politics and society. He served as the head of the University’s Politics and International Relations department and has published widely about Soviet, Russian and post-communist affairs, including Frontline Ukraine: Crisis in the Borderlands.

Nina Khruscheva is Professor of International Affairs at The New School in New York and an editor of and a contributor to Project Syndicate: Association of Newspapers Around the World. Her articles have appeared in Foreign Policy, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times and other publications. Her latest book (co-authored) is In Putin’s Footsteps: Searching for the Soul of an Empire Across Russia’s Eleven Time Zones

Sponsored by Massachusetts Peace Action; Campaign for Peace, Disarmament, and Common Security; International Peace Bureau; and Chicago Area Peace Action.

Photo: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, right, gestures toward Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after a media conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Olivier Matthys)