Understanding the Russian Mind: The Return of Kto Kogo
Anna Vassilieva

January 15, 2019

What do we know about the evolution of Russian politics and society since the collapse of the Soviet Union? What factors were responsible for the country’s initial embrace of a Western democratic model? Why is its leader, so reviled in the West, still the most popular Russian politician? How did Putin’s personal history influence his political leadership? Do young Russians accept his vision of the future and, if so, what are the implications for the West?

Professor Anna Vassilieva is a teacher, author, translator and editor at MIIS. Her expertise comprises Contemporary Russian politics, Russian politics in the post-Soviet space, Russian culture and society. Professor Vassilieva holds Ph.D. in history from the Diplomatic Academy of the Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation. Professor Vassilieva contributed articles and book chapters to numerous volumes and published commentaries of Russian foreign and domestic policy in the International Herald Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Moscow Times, Asahi Shimbun, La Razon, and Jornal do Brazil. She has been interviewed on Al Jazeera America, CNN International and PBS News Hour. Professor Vassilieva has taught Russian Studies at the Monterey Institute and served as a Russian Studies program head for over two decades. She is a founder and director of the Graduate Initiative in Russian Studies (http://sites.miis.edu/russianinitiative/), the program of studying contemporary Russian politics and society through the lens of Russian political scientists, historians, economists, that is funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Professor Vassilieva is a founding director of the Monterey Summer Symposium on Russia, a seven week long intensive program created for the rising Russia experts from the United States and Europe.