In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Stephen Wise Temple Senior Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback has initiated a series of Wise Webinars, entitled “Conversations About Ukraine.” In these webinars, Rabbi Yoshi speaks with experts on international relations, foreign policy, the human cost of the invasion, and the relationship between Russia and Ukraine.
On Wednesday, March 9, Rabbi Yoshi hosted Stanford professor Kathryn Stoner, Ph.D., for an in-depth conversation on Russia’s evolution since the fall of the Soviet Union, the roots of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the reasons behind Russian president Vladimir Putin’s territorial ambitions.
A senior fellow at the Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Prof. Stoner specializes in the history of Soviet and post-Soviet Russia, giving listeners a unique insight into the social, economic, and political climate that gave rise to Vladimir Putin and his autocratic tendencies. She also opines on the ramifications of Putin’s recent personal isolation in the wake of Covid and his impact on geopolitics.
The Mosbacher Director of Stanford’s Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law, Prof. Stoner has a long history of published scholarship on both Soviet and post-Soviet Russia, and has served on the faculty of Princeton and Columbia. Her books include “Resisting the State: Reform and Retrenchment in Post-Soviet Russia” (2006) and “Russia Resurrected: Its Power and Purpose in a New Global Order” (2017).
