While Western leaders, media, and institutions have condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its conduct of the ongoing war—characterizing it as a brutal act of naked aggression—to many Russians, their military forces are heroes, protecting the Russian nation, its place in the world, and its very identity. What explains this extraordinarily different perspective? This episode features a discussion with Dr. Jade McGlynn, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London and author of two recently published books that combine to shed light on this question. As she explains, there is a complex set of layers through which the war is understood—layers composed of history, issues of identity, and national narratives. This means that, effectively, Russians are watching an entirely different war than those in the West.
This episode of the Modern War Institute Podcast features a conversation with Col. Curt Taylor, commander of the 5th Security Force Assistance Brigade. The...
This episode features a conversation with Ken Pollack, a military analyst and the author of Armies of Sand, a book that grapples with the...
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, the world has seen firsthand evidence of the threat posed by the revanchist state. Among those who...