3-4 March 2022, Tartu, Estonia
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All requests: info@rusconf.eu
Konstantin Eggert is a Baltic States correspondent and weekly columnist on Russian affairs for DW (Deutsche Welle) which is Germany’s international broadcaster.
Also, from 1998-2009 he worked for the BBC Russian Service including seven years as their Moscow Bureau Cheif.
Eggert is also a former member of Chatham House - Royal Institute of International Affairs (London). He was the program host and political commentator for TV Rain, Russia’s groundbreaking independent TV channel from 2016 to 2018 as well as the Vice-President for Public and Government Affairs for ExxonMobil Russia Inc. in charge of relations with the Russian Government, communications, political and economic analysis, and charity projects from 2009 to 2010.
Eggert was created Honorary Member of the Order of the British Empire by Ell and am Commander Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of Lithuania.
He speaks English, French, and Arabic.
Brigadier General Ilmar Tamm
Konstantin Eggert
There have been numerous large transformations, shifts, and potential missed opportunities in the three decades since the Soviet Union's demise. Discourse has shifted from the end of so-called history and the possibility of the emergence of a common European home to impossible security demands and the outright invasion of Ukraine. This panel's discussion will center on how Russia and the West have come to terms with the collapse of the Soviet Union over the last thirty years, and what this means for current and future relations in light of the current war.
Moderator: Prof. Žaneta Ozoliņa, Chairman, Latvian Transatlantic Organization
Amb. Wolfgang Ischinger
Amb. Baiba Braže
Prof. Toomas Hendrik Ilves
Konstantin Eggert
Online Broadcast
Conversation between Dr. Algirdas Revaitis from the General Jonas Žemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania and Brigadier General (ret.) Gianmarco Badialetti, Italian Army
A pragmatic economic partner or an adversary? Both labels have been applied to Russia and China, and such debates have strained Euro-Atlantic solidarity. Before the invasion of Ukraine, Russia and China had been getting closer. What are the defining characteristics of these Sino-Russian relations, and what does this imply for the future of Europe? Is this a marriage of convenience, or are there deeper motives at work? How will the current war in Ukraine change these dynamics? This panel will discuss these topics and more.
Andrei Illarionov
Andrew A. Michta
Constanze Stelzenmüller
André Loesekrug-Pietri
Online Broadcast
Conversation between Dr. Toms Rostoks, Director, Centre for Security and Strategic Research at the National Defence Academy of Latvia, and Dr. Margarita Šešelgytė, Institute of International Relations and Political Science, Vilnius University
For Conference Guests in Tartu Only
For Conference Guests in Tartu Only
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With opposition at home and abroad, Russia has taken a hardline line on both. With the Russian opposition's current options of imprisonment, repression, exile – or now even execution – is there a future for those partisans of democracy both inside and outside of Russia? What would such a Russian transition to democracy look like considering the domestic conditions that strongly echo those of seventy years ago? This panel will debate these issues in accordance with Chatham House rules.
Moderator: Col. (ret.) Dr. Zdzislaw Sliwa, Dean of the Baltic Defence College
Nikita Lomagin
Sir Andrew Wood
Konstantin Eggert
Maria Snegovaya
This panel will discuss the meeting point of doctrinal proclamations and material capabilities and willpower for the coming decades in a predictive capacity. As a result, the panel will focus on what behaviors can be expected of Russia, what objectives it has set, what tools it can use to accomplish these goals, and how the current war in Ukraine tests both doctrine and capabilities. This panel, which features students-researchers from the Baltic Defence College as speakers, also highlights the intellectual rigor of some of the daily debates that take place at the College.
Moderator: Dr. Illimar Ploom, Estonian Military Academy
COL Jean-Michel Millet
LCDR Rene Kalmaru
COL Kaspars Pudāns
LTC Andrius Jagminas
Online Broadcast
Conversation between Dr. Illimar Ploom from the Estonian Military Academy and COL (ret.) Dr. Zdzislaw Sliwa, Dean of the Baltic Defence College
It started piecemeal. Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Transnistria. Crimea. Luhansk and Donetsk. The preceding are only a few of the disputed territories that splintered away from various polities in the decades following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Now, Russia has declared a war on Ukraine that would relegate the entirety of the country to the same vassalized status. To what extent does the current state of affairs of these regions represent frozen conflicts with no prospect of settlement? Might the war in Ukraine provide an opportunity to settle these conflicts? This panel will go over these topics and more.
Dr. Artis Pabriks
Major General Jim Morris
Eka Tkeshelashvili
Vladimir Socor
Conversation between Elisabeth Bauer, Head of the KAS office for the Baltic States, and Georgian Ambassador to Estonia, H.E. Archil Karaulashvili
Address by Louis Wierenga, Lecturer, Baltic Defence College, Grzegorz Kozłowski, Ambassador of Poland to Estonia and Žilvinas Tomkus, Vice Minister, Ministry of National Defence of the Republic of Lithuania
President Biden of the United States stated that he once looked into President Putin's eyes and saw no soul behind them. What, on the other hand, did Putin see when he returned Biden's gaze? One year into Biden's presidency, US-Russian relations are possibly at their lowest point since the Cold War's end. How can these mutual perceptions – both personal and international – be used to comprehend the current tensions between the two powers and the Kremlin’s decision to invade Ukraine? How has Russia's assessment of political will and unity in Washington influenced their current geopolitical strategy? This panel will address these issues and more.
Moderator: Dr. Asta Maskaliūnaitė, Director, Department of Political Studies, Baltic Defence College
Anders Åslund
Laurynas Kasčiūnas
Anton Barbashin
Andrei Illarionov
Online Broadcast
Conversation between Alena Kudzko, Vice President of GLOBSEC & Director of the GLOBSEC Policy Institute and Prof. Dr. Giray Sadik, Chair, Department of International Relations, Faculty of Political Science, Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University, Turkey
From the so-called ‘Wild Nineties’ to the present, Western pundits have predicted Russian collapse or decline. In some discourses, Russia has been reduced to the status of a second-rate power or a geopolitical annoyance, based on its demographics, economy, or global relevance. Russian political analysts, on the other hand, have described a decline of the West and a continuing shift toward geopolitical multipolarity, wherein Russia would regain its former status as a global power. The invasion of Ukraine brings these two points of view to a cacophonous crescendo, and it seems that only one of these voices will remain in the subsequent quiet. This concluding panel will discuss this key point of contention in light of the current aggression.
Moderator: Dr. Sandis Šrāders, Fellow, Baltic Defence College
Dr. Stefan Meister
James Sherr
Dr. Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga
Igor Yurgens
At this time, the conference organisers are planning to hold a hybrid event. The majority of our speakers and a significant number of the participants will join our debates in Tartu. There will, however, be some experts and a substantial portion of our audience that will join us online, to participate in, or follow our debates remotely.
Organised by the Baltic Defence College for more than half a decade, the annual Conference has attracted delegates from the Baltic and allied military community, international institutions, governments, academia, and the private sector to discuss the most pressing issues shaping Russia, its near abroad, and global challenges since 2015.
Since the establishment of the Baltic Defence College over twenty years ago and more particularly from the inception of our conference and publications, we have become a hub of knowledge and honed a reputation for unveiling diverse trends related to Russia’s contemporary domestic agenda and external influence.
The Baltic Defence College, located in Tartu, the heart of Estonia, is on the frontline between East and West. The Conference on Russia is one of the cornerstones of the annual College academic programme, developed to showcase our comprehensive network and professional excellence. With this goal in mind, the College aims to bring contemporary experts on Russia from the political, diplomatic and military domains, together with academia to better understand our eastern neighbour. In 2014, the College held its first Conference on Russia, which focused on Russian power projection. Since then, the Conference has grown to become the College’s premier event, with sessions on Russian revisionism, the Russian Revolution’s centennial, Russian challenges and responses, non-linear challenges, Russia’s self-perceptions versus geostrategic realities, and how to interact with Russia in a multi-threat world. The Conference’s overall goal each year has been to look into how Russia is viewed both internally and externally in the contemporary world.
The 2022 iteration of the Conference seeks to continue this tradition of excellence with a focus on Russia in the new paradigm of the COVID-19 pandemic. With this approach, the 2022 conference will seek to reframe much of the discussion, deductions or conclusions that emerged from previous Conferences. Has the pandemic altered Russia’s relationship with the West? What flaws or resilience in Russian society does COVID-19 reveal? Are there now more opportunities for collaboration, or are these developments merely pointing to more competition? The 2022 Conference on Russia will attempt to answer some of these concerns, helping to orientate and shape our thinking and point us in the right direction to better cope with new challenges or issues as we look towards 2023.
For the second year in a row, the associated publication of Conference Proceedings will be an essential feature of the Conference. These proceedings are a compilation of chapters authored by eminent Russian experts on a wide range of themes, including geopolitics, demography, political systems, cultural identity, and military technology. They are intended to provide cutting-edge insight into the subjects covered during the Conference as well as to serve as a forum for worldwide debate.
Time zone in Tartu, Tartu County (GMT+2)
Read my interview with #VladimirSocor from @JamestownTweets on his assessment of the Russian invasion of #Ukraine. We recorded it during the recent #RUSCONF22 organized by the @BALTDEFCOL
https://neweasterneurope.eu/2022/03/15/the-kremlin-wants-to-dismember-ukraine/
Short interview from #RUSCONF22, which was held last week in #Tartu 🇪🇪
Q: What does #Biden see in the eyes of #Putin?
💬 Anton Barbashin, Riddle
@BALTDEFCOL @EstonianATA @LATO_LV
Auf der #RUSCONF22 "Russia: A Restless Embrace of the Past?" haben Expert:innen aus ganz Europa u.a. über die russische Invasion in der Ukraine und diskutiert.
Eine hervorragende Plattform um die Schwerpunkte der russischen Politik zu diskutieren. Danke für die Einladung!
Our sincerest gratitude to all #RUSCONF22 sponsors, civilian ambassadors and media partners ‼️ See you next year 👀
🤝@NATO_DefCollege @KAS_Baltic @tartulinn @GeoEmbTallinn @postimees @Lithuanian_ATA @LATO_LV @EstonianATA @NewEastEurope @LatvijasRadio @lithuaniatribun
#RUSCONF22 - Ambassador Grzegorz Kozłowski discussed with Vice Minister OD 🇱🇹 Žilvinas Tomkus the issue of coherence of democratic states’ cooperation in the face of Russian aggression.
@BALTDEFCOL
@Lithuanian_MoD
Interesting discussions on Russia during the #RUSCONF22 in #Tartu
Dr @VairaVF 💬 “The real hope for peace and security in Europe would come on the day the Russian population embraced the same principles of democracy and law and order that the neighbour states had” #RUSCONF22
Genius metaphorical comparison by Dr @VairaVF at #RUSCONF22 of European leaders who appeased Putin before (via econ & trade relations) & paddled around him as if he were the hypochondric protagonist of Molière's The Imaginary Invalid, catering to their 'Uncle' to not upset him
To sum up with the #RUSCONF22 a short interview
🎦
Q: What does Biden see in the eyes of Putin?
A: @ABarbashin , @RiddleRussia
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