Vance Serchuk on the History and Politics Behind Russia's Invasion of Ukraine

The Tikvah Podcast

Tikvah

Judaism, Politics, Religion & Spirituality, News

4.6 • 620 Ratings

🗓️ 25 February 2022

⏱️ 62 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week, Russia began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russian airstrikes are now hitting Ukrainian military installations and Russian tanks are now rolling into Ukrainian cities.

This invasion is an inflection point in Russian-Western relations, the largest since the end of the cold war. To help us understand the full historical and political context behind it, we invited the foreign-policy scholar Vance Serchuk to join our podcast. In conversation with Mosaic editor Jonathan Silver, he explains the history behind Russia’s relations with its East European neighbors, what is motivating Russia's aggression now, and what options the United States and its allies, including Israel, have for aiding Ukraine.

Musical selections in this podcast are drawn from the Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, op. 31a, composed by Paul Ben-Haim and performed by the ARC Ensemble.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Throughout 2021, Russian troops massed around the borders of Ukraine, and the Russian President
0:13.9	Vladimir Putin sought guarantees from NATO that it would remove military hardware stationed
0:19.1	in Eastern Europe and not admit Ukraine as a member.
0:23.0	Those requests were denied.
0:24.7	On February 21st, Russia officially recognized two regions of Ukraine with ethnic Russian
0:31.3	majorities as independent states.
0:34.0	And on February 24th, initiated military operations purportedly to offer assistance to
0:39.8	these new states and then commenced a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
0:44.2	Welcome to the Tikva podcast. I'm your host, Jonathan Silver. The 2022 Russian invasion of
0:49.5	Ukraine feels like a hinge moment in the post-war history of the West, of the security architecture
0:56.4	of Europe, and once tanks begin to roll, as they already have, the human motivations of fear,
1:02.5	honor, and interest will compel actions that are difficult to predict.
1:06.8	What we can do is try to understand the political and historical context that led to this moment,
1:13.0	and that is what our guest today offers.
1:15.0	We're joined by Vance Surchuk, the executive director of the KKR Global Institute.
1:19.8	Mr. Surchuk has worked in the U.S. Senate, was a monthly columnist for the Washington Post,
1:24.6	and has written for the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and Foreign Affairs.
1:28.2	He was a Fulbright scholar in Russia and is a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve.
1:33.5	Today, he gives us a detailed briefing on what led to this historic moment.
1:37.7	If you enjoy this conversation, you can subscribe to the Tikva podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, and Spotify.
1:45.9	I hope you'll leave us a five-star review to help us grow this community of ideas. I welcome your feedback on this or any of our other
1:51.5	podcast episodes at podcast at tikfafund.org. And of course, if you want to learn more about our
	...

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