The West must consis­tently punish sanction viola­tions, lower the price ceiling for Russian oil and make itself inde­pen­dent of the Russian nuclear industry — Sergiy Petukhov on the effect and future of sanctions against Russia.

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.

Russia’s shocking invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has changed the geopo­lit­ical realities in Europe, spelling the end to Russia’s position as Europe’s most important energy supplier. As a result, today Russia has the dubious distinc­tion of being the most sanc­tioned nation in the world’s history.

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.

What is the economic and ecolog­ical future of Russia and what are the climate policy conse­quences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine? We invite you to a public discus­sion on 15 December 2022 with German and Russian economic, energy and climate experts.

Appeal by more than 70 writers, histo­rians, security experts and scholars on Eastern Europe

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.

Do Russian war crimes consti­tute genocide? What oblig­a­tions does this impose on the inter­na­tional community? Experts from politics, academia and civil society discussed these questions at the inter­na­tional confer­ence “Inter­na­tional Law against Genocide”.

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.

Half a year after the start of the large-scale Russian invasion, the West should continue to support Ukraine with further arms deliveries.

Under Orbán’s pressure, the EU-Commis­sion has removed the Russian Patriarch Kirill from the sanctions list – a fatal under­es­ti­ma­tion of the powerful role of the Russian-Orthodox Church in the war against Ukraine.

The war in Ukraine will throw Russia into an economic crisis, which it will try to combat through fossil fuels reversing the started green transition

Marieluise Beck is asked if she changed her mind about German foreign policy after recent arms deliv­eries. She also speaks about mistakes made by previous govern­ments and former Chan­cellor Schröders...

The Tehran-Moscow axis seems threat­ening, but it was born out of necessity and does not change much for Israel and the Middle East. However, the Russia-Israel rela­tion­ship has already deteriorated...

In Sri Lanka, demon­stra­tors have taken over the pres­i­den­tial palace, partly because the prices of wheat and petrol have risen immea­sur­ably as a result of the war in Ukraine. Russia is...

In Israel, Chinese invest­ments are increas­ingly viewed crit­i­cally, partly because of China’s relations with Iran. On the other hand, China offers enormous economic oppor­tu­ni­ties, according to Galia Lavi of the...

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...

Oil and gas revenues continue to fill the Russian war chest. In order to damage the Russian economy severely, a drop in the supply of products for the IT sector would...

On 31 May, we discussed the future of the Russian economy after the war in Ukraine with Dr Vladislav Inozemtsev, Angelina Davydova, Dr Janis Kluge and Michael Harms.

Russia’s war of aggres­sion against Ukraine is a turning point for Europe and the whole world. What are its policy impli­ca­tions? Are the sanctions imposed so far suffi­cient to contain the...

So far, the people of Ukraine have borne the burden of the war all alone. For the German precept of “never again”, this is a reality shock, comments Marieluise Beck.

More than 80 scholars, politi­cians, busi­ness­people and civil society repre­sen­ta­tives have signed an appeal to the German govern­ment to stop oil and gas imports from Russia. Remark­ably, the coalition of...

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is reaching a perilous stage. The West needs to step up efforts to make Putin’s war unwinnable. Conces­sions will only prolong his regime and increase Moscow’s appetite...

Military expert Gustav C. Gressel on the war in Ukraine: The outcome will depend in part on whether the West supplies Ukraine with the weapons it needs. It is also...

Based on six criteria of the United Nations Conven­tion against Genocide, Russia is commit­ting genocide in Mariupol, says Inter­na­tional law expert Otto Luchterhandt.

By waging a war against Ukraine, Putin has badly miscal­cu­lated. The Russian leader has become victim of his own propa­gan­distic visions and failed to antic­i­pate the Western respo­nse, writes Vladislav Inozemtsev.

How should we deal with a repres­sive and confronta­tional Russia? Join our annual discus­sion “Russia and the West” on 24 March, which will be held jointly with the Munich Security Conference...

We must stop funding Putin’s war with our energy imports

Political scientist Olek­sandra Keudel warns of European and global conse­quences in the case of Russian attacks on Ukrainian nuclear power plants.

Two prominent members of the Ukrainian parlia­ment appeal to their colleagues in the German Bundestag to stand by Ukraine in the face of Russian threats of war.

After failing to agree on exclusive spheres of influence in Europe with the Trump admin­is­tra­tion, the Kremlin is chal­lenging Washington’s ability to keep unity among Euro-Atlantic allies and protect European...

As 2021 draws to a close, we look back on this year’s important events. Among them is the Crimea Platform, which was launched in August at Ukraine’s initia­tive to shore up...

When Angela Merkel took office as German Chan­cellor in 2005, she was better prepared for the chal­lenges on the EU’s eastern border than any other West European head of government....

A year ago protests began against electoral fraud in Belarus. Dictator Lukashenko responded with a wave of harsh state violence, which led to the country being further isolated and sanc­tioned internationally....

A commen­tary by Ralf Fücks on Putin’s latest histor­ical policy manifesto, published by the Kremlin.

An answer to Wladimir Putin’s fine tuned op-ed in the German weekly Die Zeit by Ralf Fücks, Center for Liberal Modernity.

In late March 2021 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky revoked a decree made by runaway president Viktor Yanukovych appointing Oleksandr Tupytsky and Oleksandr Kasminin to the Consti­tu­tional Court. This raised eyebrows in...

Since January 2021 there has been growing military esca­la­tion in conflict-affected areas of Donbas. Russia has built up military equipment deploy­ment along the Russian-Ukrainian border, repo­si­tioned its army and strengthened...

Only temporarily, says Michael Zürn, Director at the Berlin Social Science Center. 

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...

Panel and online dis­cus­sion with Marie­luise Beck, Vla­di­mir Kara-Murza und Michael McFaul on 9 Sep­tem­ber 2020, 7 pm CET

As part of our project “Eastern Part­ner­ship 2.0” we publish a series of arti­cles about the three EU asso­ci­a­ted states. The authors from the region (Mikheil Benidze, Volodymyr Yermolenko, Victor Gotisan)...

As part of our project “Eastern Part­ner­ship 2.0” we publish a series of arti­cles about the three EU asso­ci­a­tion states. The authors from the region (Mikheil Benidze, Volodymyr Yermolenko, Victor Gotisan)...

As part of our project “Eastern Part­ner­ship 2.0” we publish a series of arti­cles about the three EU asso­ci­a­tion states. The authors from the region (Mikheil Benidze, Volodymyr Yermolenko, Victor Gotisan)...

Ahead to the Past – The World in the Mind of Putin Эту статью можно читать и на русском

Many EU capitals regard Belarus as an extension of Russia and take little interest in it. EU leaders are also uncom­fort­able dealing with its long-time auto­cratic leader, Alexander Lukashenka. Such...

An Open Letter to the Parlia­men­tary Assembly of the Council of Europe: Please don’t deprive yourself of the right to impose sanctions on member states that are violating the statutes...

On this date 74 years ago, the Red Army liberated the Auschwitz-Birkenau exter­mi­na­tion camp. The 27th of January became the Day of Remem­brance for the Victims of National Socialism. Much has...

On January 17 the Centre for Liberal Modernity held its second inter­na­tional Russia confer­ence. This year’s topic was if Germany’s policy of detente of the 1970s can offer any guidance...

The book discussed below (Why we need peace and freedom with Russia) explic­itly presents itself as an appeal for a change in Germany’s policy towards Russia. It brings together authors from...

What will be at stake when Moscow and Beijing begin to share their lessons?

Are Russia’s inter­ven­tions in Georgia, Ukraine and Syria merely a reaction against the expansion of NATO? Facts and arguments concerning a propa­ganda myth.

On March 13 the Center Liberal Modernity held its first inter­na­tional confer­ence on Russia. The event’s main intention was gaining a deeper under­standing of the Putin System and to find out...

A Russian agent who switched sides is attacked with a military-grade nerve agent in a provin­cial English town. Prime Minister May holds Moscow respon­sible for the attack. Are we back in the...

What the decision for another „Grand Coalition” led by Chan­cellor Merkel implies for Germany, EU and the Transat­lantic Alliance.

Reca­pit­u­la­tion of a faltering peace process: the second Minsk Agreement of February 2015, intended to put an end to the war in eastern Ukraine and to set a political process in motion,...