How does today’s Russia function – and why might its regime not collapse despite serious challenges?
In an interview for Seznam Zprávy, a.s., Prof. Paul Chaisty, a leading expert on Russian and East European politics from the University of Oxford, shares his insights. He has long collaborated with the Faculty of Arts, Charles University where he is currently a visiting professor as the holder of the Donatio Universitatis Carolinae Chair, and he also serves on the international board of our ERA Chair in Multidisciplinary Area Studies Project.
For more than 20 years, his research has focused on political attitudes, identity, and the functioning of authoritarian regimes in the post-Soviet space – a perspective he brings into the current debate on Russia and the war in Ukraine.
In the interview, he explains, among other things:
• why Russian society has become more divided since 2014 and why support for the system has been declining
• how Putin’s regime draws on nationalism and the Soviet past
• why Russia is shifting from a “hybrid regime” to a more openly authoritarian model
• which factors keep the regime in power – and why it may not collapse
• how the war is transforming the economy, public opinion, and the country’s future direction
Read a data-driven perspective on the development of Russian society and its political system over the past decades – and gain a deeper understanding of current events.
Link to the interview (in Czech)
Photo by British Embassy Prague
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