In this episode of Vienna Coffeehouse Conversations Ivan Vejvoda hosts IWM and ECFR fellow Kadri Liik for an urgent and pressing discussion of Russia's geopolitical climate as influenced by its historical trajectory and the evolving preoccupations of President Putin. The conversation navigates Russia's internal political dynamics, the country's evolving relationship with the West, and its position on global matters, especially in light of the ongoing full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Liik’s perspective on Russia's future, the potential for self-correction, and its interactions with China and the European Union shed a thoughtful and engaging light on the complex fabric of Russia's foreign policy and societal structure.

IWM Europe's Futures fellow Kadri Liik is also a Senior Policy Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, with a focused expertise on Russia, Eastern Europe, and the Baltic region. Prior to joining the ECFR in 2012, Liik served as the Director of the International Center for Defense Studies in Estonia. Her career includes roles as a Moscow correspondent for Estonian newspapers, foreign news editor at Postimees, and editor-in-chief at the foreign affairs magazine Diplomaatia. With her experience as a journalist, including hosting the current affairs talk show Välismääraja, Liik brings a unique blend of journalistic acumen and deep policy knowledge to the discussion on Russia’s global role and future prospects.

For further information about Kadri Liik and her work, you can visit her ECFR profile at https://ecfr.eu/profile/kadri_liik/​​. 
Find Kadri on X @KadriLiik​​.

Ivan Vejvoda  is Head of the Europe's Futures program at IWM implemented in partnership with ERSTE Foundation. The program is dedicated to the cultivation of knowledge and the generation of ideas addressing pivotal challenges confronting Europe and the European Union: nexus of borders and migration, deterioration in rule of law and democracy and European Union’s enlargement prospects.

The Institute for Human Sciences (IWM) is an institute of advanced studies in the humanities and social sciences. Founded as a place of encounter in 1982 by a young Polish philosopher, Krzysztof Michalski, and two German colleagues in neutral Austria, its initial mission was to create a meeting place for dissenting thinkers of Eastern Europe and prominent scholars from the West.

Since then it has promoted intellectual exchange across disciplines, between academia and society, and among regions that now embrace the Global South and North. The IWM is an independent and non-partisan institution, and proudly so. All of our fellows, visiting and permanent, pursue their own research in an environment designed to enrich their work and to render it more accessible within and beyond academia.

you can find IWM's website at:

https://www.iwm.at/

Ivan Vejvoda  is Head of the Europe's Futures program at the Institute for Human Sciences (IWM Vienna) implemented in partnership with ERSTE Foundation. The program is dedicated to the cultivation of knowledge and the generation of ideas addressing pivotal challenges confronting Europe and the European Union: nexus of borders and migration, deterioration in rule of law and democracy and European Union’s enlargement prospects.

The Institute for Human Sciences is an institute of advanced studies in the humanities and social sciences. Founded as a place of encounter in 1982 by a young Polish philosopher, Krzysztof Michalski, and two German colleagues in neutral Austria, its initial mission was to create a meeting place for dissenting thinkers of Eastern Europe and prominent scholars from the West.

Since then it has promoted intellectual exchange across disciplines, between academia and society, and among regions that now embrace the Global South and North. The IWM is an independent and non-partisan institution, and proudly so. All of our fellows, visiting and permanent, pursue their own research in an environment designed to enrich their work and to render it more accessible within and beyond academia.

For further information about the Institute:

https://www.iwm.at/