Vladimir Putin has ruled Russia for over 20 years and in these two decades, Putin has seen Russia through its rise as a great power and its economic stagnation. He is explicitly rejected principles of liberalism and multilateralism, annexing foreign lands, jailing political opponents, and undermining Western democracies, so who really is Vladimir Putin? In this episode, we discuss Putin’s rise to the Russian presidency, how his time in the KGB affected his world views, and what his ambitions are. We will then examine how his regime has changed the economic and political contours of Russia and we can expect in the coming years.
Fiona Hill is the Robert Bosch senior fellow in the Center on the United States and Europe in the Foreign Policy program at Brookings. She recently 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).
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