CANCELLED Ekaterina Schulmann on Russia’s political system during a time of war

More than one year since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the war rages on. Vladimir Putin’s plans for a quick victory were dashed by Ukraine’s defiance in the face of Russia’s illegal aggression. While Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people are now lauded for their bravery and defence of freedom, Putin continues to show the destructive potential of dictatorial hubris – all the while, it seems, retaining his grip on power.

So, what has the past year revealed regarding Russia’s political system? How well – or poorly – has the state operated domestically? How much longer can it maintain control? Are we seeing signs of regime transformation – and, if so, in what direction? What do the Russian people and the elite actually think about the war? And what is their role in shaping the country’s future?

Ekaterina Schulmann – one of Russia’s leading public intellectuals – will discuss these and other questions in conversation with Dr Ben Noble, Associate Professor of Russian Politics at UCL SSEES. The event will be opened by David Brummell CB, Chairman of the Great Britain–Russia Society – the co-organiser of this event.

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About the speaker

Dr Ekaterina Schulmann is a political scientist, specialising in the lawmaking process in modern-day Russia, parliamentarism, and decision-making mechanisms in hybrid political regimes. She has a PhD in political science and is currently a Richard von Weizsäcker Fellow of the Robert Bosch Academy in Berlin. She also serves as an associate professor at KAZGUU University in Astana, Kazakhstan.

Before 2023, Ekaterina was an associate professor at the Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences (MSSES) and a senior lecturer at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA). From December 2018 to October 2019, she was a member of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights in Russia.

Ekaterina is the author of the books Legislation as a Political Process (2014) and Practical Political Science: A Guide to Getting in Touch with Reality (2018), and the co-author of a chapter in The New Autocracy: Information, Politics, and Policy in Putin’s Russia (Brookings Institution Press, 2018). She is also a member of the Editorial Board of the UNESCO Courier magazine.

Ekaterina was previously a regular contributor to the newspaper Vedomosti, The New Times magazine, and Moscow Carnegie Center. Her commentary continues to appear in Bloomberg, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Der Spiegel, and other mainstream and online media. She previously hosted a weekly programme on the radio station “Echo of Moscow” that popularised political science terminology and concepts. Ekaterina continues to discuss these and other themes on her popular YouTube channel, which has over one million subscribers.