Kathy Butterfield/Wilson Center
Kennan Institute
The Kennan Institute is the premier US center for advanced research on Eurasia and the oldest and largest regional program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. The Kennan Institute is committed to improving American understanding of Russia, Ukraine, Central Asia, the South Caucasus, and the surrounding region though research and exchange.
Connect With Us
Latest News
Anti-Western Influence Campaigns in Latin America: Understanding the Russia-Venezuela-Iran Triangle
Kennan Cable No. 95: The Ahiska Turks: Prisoners of the Soviet and Russian Empires
Kennan Cable No. 94: Russia’s “Holy War” against the West
Resilience and Resolve: Commemorating Ukraine’s Independence Day Amidst War - Wilson Expert Takes
Ukraine’s Surprise Attack: An Update on the War With Russia
In this edition of Wilson Center NOW, Jennifer Wistrand discusses the implications of Ukraine’s incursion into the Kursk region of Russia.
The Role of Africa in Russia’s Geopolitics
How to Declassify National Security Secrets
Statement About Release of American Citizens From Russia
The Wilson Center Mourns the Passing of Peter Reddaway
The Cossack Rebirth out of the Russo-Ukraine War | A Conversation with Title VIII Summer Research Scholar Richard Arnold
Kennan Cable No. 93: Health and Security in Russia: Putin’s First Special Operation
Vagrancy in Russian Culture | A Conversation with Title VIII Summer Research Scholar Olga Seliazniova
Georgian Politics After Controversial “Foreign Agent” Law
Inside the Mind of Vladimir Putin with Ivan Grek
The Russian Aviation Industry Two Years after the Sanctions
Kennan Cable No. 92: Russian “Foreign Agents” Scenario: From the Weaponization of Transparency to Public Discrimination
Influence Operations and Russia’s Vision of the Future
Childhood Under Stalin | A Conversation with Title VIII Summer Research Scholar Karl Qualls
WQ Spring 2024 | Understanding Russia
Kennan Cable No. 91: Empire and Survival in Ukraine
Foreign Agents Everywhere | A Conversation with Galina Starovoitova Fellow Maxim Krupskiy
Possibilities for US Defense Investment in Ukraine with Ukrainian MP Halyna Yanchenko
Kennan Cable No. 90: Ten Years of Successful US Support in Ukraine is at Risk
Russia’s Battle around Reproductive Health and Women’s Rights
Kennan Cable No. 89: Ensuring the Future of European Security Amidst a New Cold War with Russia
From Scholarship to Politics: A Conversation with Ukrainian MP Oleksandr Merezhko
Why Ukraine Matters Series
In February 2022, Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine after initially annexing Crimea and eastern territories in 2014. The war has entered its third year of active conflict, but what are the ramifications of the fighting? The Kennan Institute invited experts on history, politics, energy, health, and migration to explain why the conflict in Ukraine remains a salient issue with reverberations throughout Europe and the world.
Tracing the Red Thread to Russia with Ambassador John Beyrle
Two Years Since Russia's Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine
February and March 2024 commemorate several grim milestones in Ukraine, including the second anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24 and the ten-year anniversary of Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea on March 18. This collection highlights the Wilson Center's analysis of these events and their ongoing domestic and global impact.
Kennan Cable No. 88: Ukraine’s Plans for Demographic Recovery
Remembering Alexei Navalny
On February 16, Russian media reported the death of the leading opposition politician Alexei Navalny. He had been imprisoned since returning to Russia in January 2021, following an assassination attempt in 2020. The Wilson Center has collected our most relevant analysis and events on Navalny to share more about his legacy for the Russian opposition and in domestic politics.
The Kennan Institute Honors Black History Month
Buryatia and the High Toll of Russia’s War in Ukraine on Ethnic Minorities
Kennan Cable No. 87: Peeling Away the Layers of Russian Foreign Policy
Georgia's Democratic Vision with Tinatin Khidasheli
Kennan Cable No. 86: What the Resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict Teaches Us
Kennan Cable No. 85: Elections in Wartime Ukraine Would Test Ukraine’s Legal-Political Flexibility
Belarus Three Years After Protest
Kennan Cable No. 84: A Survey of Russian Grassroots Anti-War Resistance
Life and Death of the Aral Sea | A Conversation with Wilson Fellow Sarah Cameron
What Did Zelensky Accomplish During His US Trip? | Wilson Center Expert Response
Eagles Over The Baltics | A Conversation with Title VIII Summer Research Scholar Andrew Huebner
Surviving a Political Poisoning with Natalia Arno
The Wilson Center Launches “Ukraine in Europe” Initiative
Berlin as a Home of New Russian Political Exiles
Central Asia in the Taliban Era | A Conversation with George F. Kennan Fellow Mélanie Sadozaï
Kennan Cable No. 83: Moscow’s Maritime Strategy: Establishing Russia as a Leading Seafaring State
Changing Russia’s Future with Zhanna Nemtsova
Wilson Center Names Jennifer Wistrand New Deputy Director of Kennan Institute
Writing Radicalism in Reform-era Russia | A Conversation with Title VIII Research Scholar Helen Stuhr-Rommereim
Ukraine’s Decolonization and Its Cultural Impact in a Time of War | A Conversation With George F. Kennan Fellow Svitlana Biedarieva
Estonia on the Edge: A Conversation with Ambassador Jonatan Vseviov
Migration, Race, and Belonging in Russia’s Far East | A Conversation with Title VIII Research Scholar Lauren Woodard
Kennan Cable No. 82: Putin’s Home War: Imperialism vs. Economy
Kennan Cable No. 81: What's at Stake in Nagorno-Karabakh: US Interests and the Risk of Ethnic Cleansing
Russian Cuisine and Conflict with Darra Goldstein
Russia’s Federalist Imagination | A Conversation with Title VIII Scholar Marcel Garboś
Lessons from "Cold War Radio": A Conversation with Mark Pomar
Kennan Cable No. 80: The Finland Factor in an Expanded NATO Alliance
Causes and Consequences of Russia’s Year of War in Ukraine
Is Russia Serious About Diplomacy? With Amb. John Sullivan
Putin’s Annexation Miscalculation
The Kremlin's Favorite Scapegoat: The Latest Attack on LGBTQ+ Rights in Russia
On the Horizon 2023 | Russia and Ukraine
The Storm Over TV Rain
Infographic | Today in History: Reagan and Gorbachev Sign the INF Treaty
Thirty-five years ago today, Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, which reduced the size of US and Soviet nuclear weapons stockpiles.
James H. Billington Lecture | The Art of Soviet Statistics
Fighting Strategic Corruption with Senator Sheldon Whitehouse
Polish-Russian Relations Move from Reset to Ruin
Kennan Institute Congratulates 2022 Nobel Peace Prize Winners
Hindsight Up Front | Ukraine
Life under Russian Occupation: A Conversation with Katerina Sergatskova
Kennan Cable No. 79: Russia is Looting Ukraine’s Breadbasket…Again
Gorbachev Retrospective
Mikhail Gorbachev, the final General Secretary of the Soviet Union and its only president, passed away on August 30, 2022, at the age of 91. Kennan scholars and alumni remember his complicated legacy as the figure at the center of the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991.
The Successor: The Story of Boris Nemtsov and the Country Where He Didn’t Become President - Part 2
Russia's New Expats pt. 2
Ukraine Quarterly Digest: April–June 2022
The Successor: The Story of Boris Nemtsov and the Country Where He Didn’t Become President - Part 1
Kennan Xplainer: Russia & Venezuela, The Ties that Bind
Kennan Cable No. 78: War and Sovereignty: Lessons from Putin’s War for the South Caucasus
Russia's New Expats
US-Kazakhstan Relations at 30: Eurasian Security & Prosperity
Crumbling Memory: Russian Propaganda, World War II, and the Invasion of Ukraine
The Kennan Institute Proudly Announces Awarded Grants for Ukrainian Scholars and Practitioners
Kennan Cable No. 77: Pleading for Peace: Collective Letters from Russia
The Ingush Case: The Society and the Authority | A discussion with Galina Starovoitova Fellow Zarina Sautieva
Kennan Cable No. 76: From Historical Fallacy to Tragic, Criminal Loss: Putin’s Case for Invading Ukraine
The Russian Way in War: A Conversation with George F. Kennan Fellow Andrew Monaghan
Kennan Cable No. 75: Victory, Defeat, and Russian Ways in War
Understanding the Turmoil in Kazakhstan | Kennan Institute Expert Analysis
Wilson Center Statement on Memorial International
Kennan Scholar Spotlight: Soviet Myths and Historical Memory
Jonathan Brunstedt discusses his Wilson Center project, “Entangled Defeats: The Soviet-Afghan War and the Shadow of Vietnam" and highlights his most recent book, “The Soviet Myth of World War II: Patriotic Memory and the Russian Question in the USSR."
Kennan Cable No. 73: Infrastructure in Russia’s Arctic: Environmental Impact and Considerations
The Kennan Institute's Solzhenitsyn Initiative
The Kennan Institute expresses deep condolences to the families of the victims of the mass shooting at Perm State University
The Biden-Putin Summit | An Expert Analysis
Rule of Silence
We recently conducted a series of interviews with Russian lawyers, journalists, and other experts on new additions to the foreign agents law in the country and about Russian information politics. This series is part of a collaboration between the Kennan Institute and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom. Check out the interviews and related articles below!
From "The Ukraine" to Ukraine: A Contemporary History
The Kennan Institute is pleased to announce a new book titled From "The Ukraine" to Ukraine: A Contemporary History, which was inspired by the research and discussions of Ukrainian, American, and international scholars who have worked at the Kennan Institute over the past twenty years.
Kennan Cable No. 67: Professionalism and Politics in the Russian Military
The Russian Military Buildup on Ukraine's Border | An Expert Analysis
Over the past few weeks, Russia has amassed a large number of troops and military assets in Crimea and at the Ukrainian border.
The Ambassadorial Series
At a time when dialogue between American and Russian diplomats is reduced to a bare minimum and when empathy and civility fall short of diplomacy between major powers, we are pleased to introduce the Ambassadorial Series. It is a compilation of conversations with eight outstanding American diplomats who served at various points of time as US ambassadors to the Soviet Union and, after its dissolution, to the Russian Federation. This series was produced by the Monterey Initiative in Russian Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies.
Kennan Cable No. 65: Constitutional Crisis in Ukraine: Looking for Solutions
The Status of Women in Russian Society | Conference Report
Alexei Navalny's Arrest Sparks Nationwide Protests | An Expert Analysis
Kennan Cable No. 61: Russia in the Changing Post-Soviet Space
Wilson Center Publication Featured in American Foreign Service Association's (AFSA) Recommended List
Kennan Cable No. 59: Russia’s Parenting Boom Reveals Signs of Social Change
Remembering the Gulag: Who Will Write Its History?
In this edition of Wilson Center NOW former Title VIII Research Scholar Tyler Kirk discusses his Wilson Center project “Remembering the GULAG: Community, Identity and Cultural Memory in Russia's Far North, 1987-2018.”
Kennan Cable No. 58: Israeli Reactions in a Soviet Moment: Reflections on the 1970 Leningrad Affair
Kennan Cable No. 57: Rethinking US Policy for Russia – and for Russia’s Neighborhood
The Belarus Election and its Aftermath | An Expert Analysis
US Troop Withdrawal from Germany | An Expert Analysis
Kennan Cable No. 56: No Great Game: Central Asia’s Public Opinions on Russia, China, and the US
Kennan Cable No. 55: Winning the Referendum and Losing Legitimacy in Putin's Russia
Debrief | Russia's 2020 Constitutional Amendments
In January 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin submitted draft amendments to the Russian State Duma. Among several proposed reforms, one amendment could allow Putin to stay in power for two additional terms, until 2036. Russian citizens will vote on the amendment in a nationwide plebiscite on July 1. Below, we are proud to highlight analysis, video projects, and events by our experts on the referendum.
Russian Bounties in Afghanistan | An Expert Analysis
Is There Really a “Putin Generation?”
COVID-19: News and Analysis on Russia and Eurasia
As COVID-19 continues to spread across the globe, the Kennan Institute will continue to provide analysis from the region and virtual events about its impact in Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia.
Kennan Cable No. 53: Russia’s “Traditional Values” and Domestic Violence
Kennan Cable No. 52: In Russia’s Shadow: China’s Rising Security Presence in Central Asia
Kennan Cable No. 51: A Rising Global Player: Kazakhstan’s Foreign Policy in the 2020s
American Visitors to Baku at the Dawn of the Cold War, August-September 1945
Numerous American public organizations and Congressional delegations came to Baku immediately after World War II, a sign that the US was initially intent on cooperating with the USSR in the post-war period, writes Jamil Hasanli.
“Blacks, Reds, and Russians:” An Interview with Joy Carew
To continue with our Black History Month effort, we recently interviewed Professor Joy Carew of the University of Louisville about her research on the history and experiences of black people in the USSR and Russia.
"We Must Not Be Silent:" A Conversation with Starovoitova Fellow Olimpiada Usanova about Gender Discrimination in Russia and the United States
Olimpiada Usanova was a Galina Starovoitova Fellow at the Kennan Institute. We spoke to her about her research on gender discrimination in Russia.
Timeline: 50 Years of the Kennan Institute
Explore 50 years of Kennan Institute history, updated weekly.
Learn MoreSee our latest updates first.
Subscribe for updates about new events, articles, videos, and more.