From Estrangement to Adversity: Recognizing the Threat Posed by Russia

There is no country quite like Russia. Many western observers hoped – or even assumed – that after the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia would fall into line. Instead, Russia has charted its own course. Despite its relatively small economy, Russia has been able to exert its global influence through a host of unconventional tactics. Under Vladimir Putin, Russia has demonstrated a surprising willingness to use any tool available to maintain this influence, including cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns, foreign election interference, and support for authoritarian regimes. How are Europe and the United States responding to the threat posed by Russia?

Join the ACG and the Freunde des American Council on Germany e.V. for a discussion with Russia experts Katja Gloger and Dr. Fiona Hill about Russia, Europe, and the United States.  They will discuss issues such as  Ukraine, cybersecurity, the domestic political outlook in Russia, and more.

Journalist and author Katja Gloger studied Eastern European History and Political Science in Hamburg and Moscow and has an MBA from Purdue University, Indiana. She started her career as a news reporter for German Television ARD. As Moscow Bureau Chief for Stern magazine, she witnessed the fall of the Soviet Union and the emergence of a new Russia. She also worked as Foreign Editor for Stern magazine – with a focus on Russia, international affairs, and security policy. She also served as Stern’s Senior Political Correspondent in Washington, DC, from 2004 until the end of 2008. Since 2009, she has served on the magazine’s editorial board.

Ms. Gloger won the prestigious German Henri Nannen Award for Best Documentary Reporting in 2010. She is a Board member of the German section of Reporters Without Borders, a human rights organization defending the freedom of the press, and a member of the Atlantik-Brücke. She has published several books on Russia, including Putin’s World: The New Russia, Ukraine, and the West.

Dr. Fiona Hill is the Robert Bosch Senior Fellow in the Center on the United States and Europe in the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution. She served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Director for European and Russian affairs on the National Security Council from 2017 to 2019. From 2006 to 2009, she served as national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia at The National Intelligence Council. She is co-author of Mr. Putin: Operative in the Kremlin (Brookings Institution Press, 2015).

Prior to joining Brookings, Dr. Hill was Director of Strategic Planning at The Eurasia Foundation in Washington, D.C. From 1991 to 1999, she held a number of positions directing technical assistance and research projects at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, including associate director of the Strengthening Democratic Institutions Project, director of the Project on Ethnic Conflict in the Former Soviet Union, and coordinator of the Trilateral Study on Japanese-Russian-U.S. Relations.

Dr. Hill has researched and published extensively on issues related to Russia, the Caucasus, Central Asia, regional conflicts, energy, and strategic issues. She holds a master’s in Soviet Studies and a doctorate in History from Harvard University where she was a Frank Knox Fellow. She also holds a master’s in Russian and Modern History from St. Andrews University in Scotland and has pursued studies at Moscow’s Maurice Thorez Institute of Foreign Languages. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.