Workshop Proposal: Russian Elite Attitudes Toward Conflict and the West

Hamilton College, Clinton NY

Investigators

Abstract

GENERAL ABSTRACT Over the past two years, the relationship between Russia and the U.S. has undergone a seismic shift. US-Russian relations are now more confrontational than at any point since the Mikhail Gorbachev era began in 1985. This project convenes two workshops to analyze the sources of this conflict, bringing together leading scholars from the U.S., Europe, and Russia. Scholars will analyze and present papers based on a series of more than 1600 interviews with high-ranking individuals working in Russia's federal bureaucracy, parliament, military and security agencies, private businesses, state-owned enterprises, universities and academic research institutes, and major media outlets that spans a period from 1993 to 2016. These papers will be published as a co-edited volume that should be of interest to policy experts and academics alike. By exploring the foreign policy attitudes of a broad swath of Russian elites, the project should promote a deeper understanding of the causes of -- and possible ways to moderate -- Russia's recent belligerence in the post-Soviet region and its confrontational stance toward the West. TECHNICAL ABSTRACT We plan to convene two workshops to analyze the sources of the resurgent conflict between Russia and the U.S. that has accompanied President Vladimir Putin's return to the presidency in 2012. Leading scholars from the U.S., Europe, and Russia will analyze and present papers based on a unique data source -- a series of interviews of high-ranking individuals working in Russia's federal bureaucracy, parliament, military and security agencies, private businesses, state-owned enterprises, universities and academic research institutes, and major media outlets. The series, conducted on a quadrennial basis since 1993 and extending to 2016, consists of seven waves. It includes 1,664 surveys that feature a consistent survey methodology, the use of the same Moscow-based polling firm, and the replication of most survey questions. These are the only repeated cross-sectional survey data of Russian elites extant anywhere and as such, constitute a unique resource for the scholarly community. The papers written using the data will be published as a co-edited volume that should be of interest to policy experts and academics alike. By exploring the foreign policy attitudes of a broad swath of Russian elites, the project should promote a deeper understanding of the causes of -- and possible ways to moderate -- Russia's recent belligerence in the post-Soviet region and its confrontational stance toward the West.