Western states have been notoriously bad and unwilling in countering Russian strategy after its reassertion in the 2000s. Today, the US has acknowledged in their military doctrine that long-term strategic competition against Russia and China is their key priority. Likewise, Western states are starting to come to terms with that the Russian challenge is not going to disappear by itself.
Russian leaders may not have something that would satisfy the Western academic strategy community as a deliberate “grand strategy,” but they nonetheless possess a strategic outlook and a theory of victory for this competition. That theory is based less on direct competition and more on raiding, a stratagem that holds promise for revisionist ambitions and the weaker side in the conflict. Understanding Russian strategic drivers is a precondition for successfully managing the long-term strategic competition with Russia.
These are some of the issues that are discussed in the new Stockholm Free World Forum brief Drivers of Russian Grand Strategy, written by Michael Kofman, senior research scientist at CNA Corporation and fellow at the Wilson Center’s Kennan Institute. The brief will be launched at a seminar on Tuesday April 23 at SFWF in Stockholm, where the author Michael Kofman will participate, along with Dr. Oscar Jonsson, acting director of SFWF.
Time: Tuesday April 23. 12.00–13.00. Lunch will be served from 11.30.
Location: Stockholm Free World Forum. Kungsgatan 60, Stockholm.
Registration: Mandatory pre-registration at the bottom of this page.
Please note that this invitation is personal and non-transferable.
Michael Kofman is a Senior Research Scientist at CNA Corporation and a Fellow at the Wilson Center’s Kennan Institute. Previously he served as program manager at National Defense University. Michael Kofman is also a frequent contributor to War on the rocks.
Oscar Jonsson is Acting Director of Stockholm Free World Forum and an associate researcher of Swedish Defence University. He has earlier worked as a subject-matter expert at the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters and has been a visiting researcher at UC Berkeley. Oscar Jonsson holds a PhD from the Department of War Studies, King’s College London which focused on the Russian understanding of modern war.