Events Detail

Russia's Presidential Transition: Will We See a Medvedev Thaw?

Richard Weitz, Andrei Piontkovsky, and Daniel Kimmage

Monday, February 25, 2007; 10:00–11:30 AM

Daniel Kimmage, Senior Analyst, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Andrei Piontkovsky, Visiting Fellow, Hudson Institute

Richard Weitz,Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute

Kremlin watchers both inside Russia and abroad are speculating whether we can look forward to an era of liberalization when Dmitry Medvedev becomes president next month.  Can we expect a kind of "de-Putinization," a thaw under which the state authorities will allow greater media freedoms and tone down Putin's recent anti-Western propaganda?  This panel discussed possible changes in Russian domestic politics and foreign policy after Putin retires as president in March.

Daniel Kimmage is a senior analyst at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.  He is the co-author of the June 2007 RFE/RL special report on Iraqi Insurgent Media, and the author of a forthcoming study on the Kremlin's campaign to stifle dissenting views on the Internet.  Andrei Piontkovsky served as director of the Center for Strategic Research, a Moscow-based think tank, from 1994 to 2005.  He has written several books and many articles on political developments in Russia.  Dr. Richard Weitz is Director of Program Management at Hudson.  He is author of Russian-American Security Cooperation after St. Petersburg: Challenges and Opportunities (2007) and Revitalising US-Russian Security Cooperation: Practical Measures (2005).

Betsy and Walter Stern Conference Room, Hudson Institute, 1015 15^th St, NW, 6^th Floor

Washington, D.C. 20005

For more information please contact Richard Weitz at Weitz@hudson.org.