Monterey Conversations on Russia’s Wild 1990s and NATO and the EU

With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine turning into a war of attrition, Monterey Initiative in Russian Studies (MIR) invited seven experts on Europe, NATO, and Russia for two online panel discussions devoted to probing underexplored causes and consequences of the war.

On June 6, “The War in Ukraine: What it Means for NATO and the EU,” moderated by Michael Kimmage of the Catholic University of America, brought together Max Bergmann of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Hans Kundnani of Chatham House, Jade McGlynn of the Monterey Initiative in Russian Studies and Rachel Rizzo of the Atlantic Council’s Europe Center. Together, they shared their sometimes-divergent views on how the war has reshaped the EU and NATO and the pressing question of whether Ukrainian resistance will fundamentally reinvigorate either body.

Panelists interrogated the argument that Russia’s war on Ukraine had resurrected a cohesive Western liberal order. Kundnani warned of the dangers of EU and NATO leaders talking as if they are at war with Russia, while their actions tell a different story. By contrast, Bergmann argued that Western governments have been clear in stating their objectives and that the EU members have demonstrated their commitment to so-called European values despite increased energy prices.  McGlynn offered a Russianist perspective, arguing that Russia expects to succeed through perseverance and is counting on Western interest in (and support for) the war to wane.

The experts also commented on the challenges facing Ukraine – despite current political and military support from the West – in advancing through bureaucratic hurdles to become a full member of the EU. Kimmage raised the question of contested borders, should Ukraine be admitted to the EU and/or NATO, and asked panelists whether Ukraine currently had a “better deal” than NATO could offer. Rizzo questioned what the EU is doing to prepare for Ukraine’s entry.

On June 7^th, MIR’s gaze turned from the future to the past, when McGlynn and Kimmage were joined by Olga Malinova of the Higher School of Economics in Moscow and Will Pyle of Middlebury College for “The Wild 1990s: (Mis)remembering the Yeltsin Era in Today’s Russia.” The experts compared historical and economic accounts of the tumultuous decade with the propaganda of the Putin era, dissecting the sense of trauma and humiliation that memories of this era conjure for many Russians.

Kimmage illuminated several flaws in Western thinking that originated in the 1990s, including seeing the US as the winner of the Cold War and Western leaders as “benevolent actors” in post-Soviet Russia. Both Malinova and Pyle drew on their own research to answer the question of why Kremlin narratives of the 1990s as a ‘Time of Troubles’ resonate so well with the public; for example, Pyle noted that Russians who experienced economic hardships in the ‘90s were more skeptical of democracy in 2006.

Both panels added necessary complexity and context to the current war and its wide-reaching geopolitical, economic, and cultural impact. Monterey Conversations will continue to identify and interrogate underexplored questions, providing thoughtful answers from the foremost thinkers in their field.