More than 120 experts from a dozen countries attended the fifth edition of our confer­ence “Russia and the West” on 20 April in Berlin. The partic­i­pants, including prominent Russian oppo­si­tion figures in exile, discussed future policy towards Moscow and post-Putin scenarios.

During an online discus­sion, Polish expert Maria Domanska and Russian oppo­si­tion leader Vladimir Milov presented their policy papers about future scenarios for Russia. Here is what they had to say.

What future for Russia should we strive for? Our authors Vladimir Milov and Maria Domanska strongly argue that the West must not fear a collapse of the regime. Positive change in...

Russia Policies and Zeit­en­wende: The Change We Need

The war in Ukraine is putting the future of Russia more and more in our hands. A decisive victory of Ukraine makes an end to the Putin regime more likely. The West needs to prepare for this moment because it may offer a short oppor­tu­nity to encourage the country to embark on a more demo­c­ratic and law-abinding path, writes Maria Domanska.

Putin has turned Russia into a dicta­tor­ship, but the country is by no means destined to be a dark impe­ri­al­istic power. The Free World needs to support Russia’s next attempt for demo­c­ratic change instead of snubbing it, writes Vladimir Milov.

During an Inspiring Round­table last week, we discussed the West’s future Russia policy on the basis of four key countries’ approach — Poland, France, Germany and the US. Some short takeaways:

French policy towards Russia was based on self-serving delusions that led to dangerous failures and exac­er­bated Putin’s paranoia. The West needs to overhaul its policies and build a strong security system in Europe and beyond.

Russia’s war against Ukraine has upended not just relations with the West but is testing the inter­na­tional system as a whole. The urgent need for new thinking has prompted the Center of Liberal Modernity to set up its Expert Network Russia, which met in Vilnius under the headline “Rethinking Russia” for the first time on 31 October.

“Rethinking Russia”: On 31 October, we opened our new project “Expert Network Russia” with a confer­ence in Vilnius. Here is a selection of photographs from the event.

The Center for Liberal Modernity’s Expert Network Russia kicked off last week with a one-day meeting in Vilnius. In his opening remarks, Ralf Fücks reminded everyone why we need to Rethink Russia.

Our new project “Expert Network Russia” kicked on October 31 with an inaugural meeting in Vilnius. Network members will gather in the Lithuanian Seimas to discuss how the West should deal with an increas­ingly total­i­tarian and neo-imperial Russia.

Poland’s complex rela­tion­ship with Russia is deeply inter­twined with Germany and Ukraine, Janusz Reiter writes.

Germany’s decades-long policy of political part­ner­ship with Russia is in tatters — instead of a friendly demo­c­ratic country it got an aggres­sive dicta­tor­ship. To avoid future failures, we need strength and resilience, writes Ulrich Speck.

It is time to think about a Russia after Putin. If defeated in Ukraine, condi­tions in the country will also change. Whether for the better or the worse is an open question. Without a departure from the imperial delusion, Russia will remain in the eternal vicious circle of war politics and author­i­tarian rule.

The US tried to integrate Russia with the liberal inter­na­tional order, but Putin destroyed the basis for coop­er­a­tion by disman­teling democracy and seeking domi­na­tion of his neighbors, writes Dan Fried.

Chan­cellor Scholz supports Ukraine only so much that it can defend itself with diffi­culty, but cannot launch a coun­ter­at­tack. But if Putin is not defeated in Ukraine, there will be no...

In Germany, a majority favour closer ties with Russia despite new autho­ri­anism under Putin, military aggres­sion against Ukraine and bombing in Syria. Where does the desire for a special rela­tion­ship with Russia...