Research, ideas, and leadership for a more secure, peaceful world
Marvin Kalb, the Shorenstein Center’s founding Director, will speak on his latest book, Imperial Gamble: Putin, Ukraine, and the New Cold War.
Marvin Kalb, the Shorenstein Center’s founding Director, was also the Edward R. Murrow Professor of Press and Public Policy from 1987 to 1999. His distinguished journalism career encompasses 30 years of award-winning reporting for CBS and NBC News as Chief Diplomatic Correspondent, Moscow bureau chief and anchor of Meet The Press.
His latest book is Imperial Gamble: Putin, Ukraine, and the New Cold War. Kalb argues that, contrary to conventional wisdom, Putin did not “suddenly” decide to invade Crimea. He had been waiting for the right moment ever since disgruntled Ukrainians rose in revolt against his pro-Russian regime in Kiev’s Maidan Square. These demonstrations led Putin to conclude that Ukraine’s opposition constituted an existential threat to Russia. Imperial Gamble examines how Putin reached that conclusion by taking a critical look at the recent political history of post-Soviet Russia, and journeying deep into Russian and Ukrainian history to explain what keeps them together and yet at the same time drives them apart.
Cosponsored by the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy.