How Putin's Overreach Undermined Russian Power

September 16, 2022

Podcast Deep Dish on Global Affairs Podcast

Former US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul and Wilson Center’s Lucian Kim explain how Russia’s setbacks in Ukraine have exposed flaws in its claims to be a great power.

Presidents Xi and Putin look at each other while standing at separate podiums

Subscribe to Deep Dish on Global Affairs Podcast

About the Episode

Yesterday, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Uzbekistan. While these nations are assumed to be America’s chief geostrategic competitors, Russia’s faltering invasion of Ukraine has isolated its economy, degraded its military, and undermined its international standing. Former US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul and Wilson Center’s Lucian Kim join Deep Dish to discuss what the war in Ukraine has revealed about Russia’s global power and whether it can still be considered a great power.

About the Experts

Michael McFaul

Professor, Political Science, Stanford University

Michael McFaul is a leading expert on Russia, American foreign policy, and democratic development around the world. A former US ambassador to Russia, McFaul is currently a professor of political science at Stanford University, the director of Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and the Peter and Helen Bing Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution.

Lucian Kim

Global Fellow, Woodrow Wilson International Center

Lucian Kim is currently a global fellow at the Kennan Institute of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington. Kim is a journalist who reported in Putin’s Russia for 13 years for NPR, Reuters, Slate, Bloomberg, The Moscow Times, and others.

Brian Hanson

Former Vice President, Studies

Brian Hanson served as the vice president of studies at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. He managed the Council's research operations and hosted the Council's weekly podcast, Deep Dish on Global Affairs.