Russian Roulette

77

Hosted by Max Bergmann and Dr. Maria Snegovaya of the Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program at CSIS, Russian Roulette explores the politics, history, and complex societies of Russia and Eurasia. Tune in for fascinating interviews and discussions on some of the biggest questions facing the broader post-Soviet space. Produced by Tina Dolbaia and Nick Fenton.

Recent Episodes
  • The State of Russia-Ukraine Negotiations with Michael Kimmage
    May 2, 2025 – 47:23
  • Keith Gessen and Bryn Rosenfeld on How We Should Interpret Russian Public Opinion Data About the War in Ukraine
    Apr 23, 2025 – 56:55
  • Russia-Ukraine Negotiations: Outlining a U.S. Strategy with Tom Wright
    Apr 4, 2025 – 40:31
  • Drones and AI on the Battlefields of Ukraine with Kate Bondar and Sam Bendett
    Apr 3, 2025 – 46:50
  • Rose Gottemoeller on Negotiating with Russia
    Mar 17, 2025 – 33:27
  • How Trump's Policies on Russia and Ukraine Are Being Received Across the Post-Soviet Space
    Mar 11, 2025 – 40:38
  • The War in Ukraine Three Years On
    Feb 26, 2025 – 01:04:29
  • A New Strategy for Containing Russia
    Feb 21, 2025 – 01:05:04
  • Max and Maria on the Start of U.S.-Russian Negotiations Over the War in Ukraine
    Feb 20, 2025 – 28:29
  • Lessons from Soviet Foreign Policy with Sergey Radchenko
    Feb 6, 2025 – 43:23
  • Russia and the Middle East in 2025
    Jan 23, 2025 – 48:19
  • 25 Years of Putinism with Sam Greene
    Jan 10, 2025 – 33:36
  • The War in Ukraine in 2025 with Michael Kofman
    Dec 19, 2024 – 01:02:50
  • Dara Massicot on Battlefield Developments in Ukraine and the Threat of Escalation
    Dec 6, 2024 – 36:31
  • What Will Trump 2.0 Mean for the War in Ukraine?
    Nov 15, 2024 – 42:18
  • Sorin Ioniță and Eto Buziashvili on the Pivotal Elections in Moldova and Georgia
    Nov 1, 2024 – 38:29
  • Sanctions and the Russian Energy Industry with Ben Cahill and Eddie Fishman
    Oct 17, 2024 – 42:55
  • Two Former Central Bankers on Russia's Inflation Problem
    Oct 4, 2024 – 42:44
  • Andrea Kendall-Taylor and the Axis of Upheaval
    Sep 23, 2024 – 32:28
  • Mike Kofman and Rob Lee on the West’s Aid to Ukraine, and the Debate Over Red Lines and Escalation
    Sep 9, 2024 – 56:18
  • Ukraine's Kursk Offensive with Sam Bendett and Mick Ryan
    Aug 23, 2024 – 37:25
  • Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan on the Russia-West Prisoner Exchange, Russian Hybrid Warfare, and the Russian Émigré Community Today
    Aug 12, 2024 – 43:56
  • Ukrainian Resistance in the Occupied Territories with Jade McGlynn
    Jul 29, 2024 – 41:00
  • Dmitri Alperovitch and "World on the Brink: How America Can Beat China in the Race for the Twenty-First Century"
    Jul 11, 2024 – 44:32
  • A Sanctions Update with Eddie Fishman and Sergey Aleksashenko
    Jun 27, 2024 – 48:10
  • Understanding the Growing Collaboration Between Russia and Iran
    Jun 14, 2024 – 01:03:09
  • The Recent Anti-Corruption Purge and New Leadership at the Russian Ministry of Defense with Mikhail Zygar and Christopher Davis
    May 31, 2024 – 40:28
  • "Collisions: The Origins of the War in Ukraine and the New Global Instability," the latest book by Michael Kimmage
    May 16, 2024 – 55:38
  • The Ongoing Protests in Georgia and What Is at Stake with Tinatin Japaridze and Eto Buziashvili
    May 14, 2024 – 51:31
  • Back in Stock? The Latest Report on the Russian Defense Industry from CSIS
    May 3, 2024 – 40:37
  • A New Investigative Report on the "Havana Syndrome" Phenomenon with Roman Dobrokhotov
    Apr 18, 2024 – 43:20
  • Innovations on the Battlefield in Ukraine with Paul Schwartz and Samuel Bendett
    Apr 4, 2024 – 41:41
  • Nicolas Véron and the Continued Debate Over Russia's Frozen Central Bank Reserves
    Mar 21, 2024 – 38:35
  • Liana Fix and Nikolay Petrov on Russia's March 2024 Presidential Election
    Mar 7, 2024 – 51:47
  • The Death of Alexei Navalny with Miriam Lanskoy
    Feb 22, 2024 – 30:03
  • Maria's New Book: "When Left Moves Right"
    Feb 8, 2024 – 01:01:55
  • Russian Influence Operations in 2024 with Catherine Belton
    Jan 25, 2024 – 32:03
  • Aid to Ukraine and the Future of the War with Michael Kofman
    Jan 11, 2024 – 01:02:04
  • Russia, Ukraine, and the Question of Containment
    Dec 14, 2023 – 35:52
  • Maria Reports Back After a Trip to Ukraine
    Nov 30, 2023 – 36:28
  • The Ideology of Putinism with Sergei Guriev
    Nov 16, 2023 – 58:49
  • Russia and the Global South with Hanna Notte
    Nov 2, 2023 – 01:03:16
  • Russia as a Strategic Threat: Ukraine, NATO, and Beyond Europe
    Oct 19, 2023 – 01:31:59
  • Security Assistance to Ukraine Under Threat
    Oct 5, 2023 – 28:18
  • Eric Ciaramella and Ukrainian Security Outside of NATO
    Sep 21, 2023 – 33:08
  • Prigozhin's Death, the Ukrainian Counteroffensive, and a Summer Update on Sanctions
    Sep 7, 2023 – 48:00
  • An Interview with Rose Gottemoeller: Ukraine, NATO, and the State of the Russian Regime
    Aug 10, 2023 – 38:21
  • An Update on the Russian Economy with Elina Ribakova and Sergey Aleksashenko
    Jul 27, 2023 – 50:28
  • The Sea in Russian Strategy with Andrew Monaghan and Richard Connolly
    Jul 18, 2023 – 54:59
  • Prigozhin's Uprising
    Jun 27, 2023 – 01:03:30
Recent Reviews
  • QE Infinity
    Great wisdom
    The informed and professional people on this show bring a high level of thoughtful discussion.
  • RJG179
    Recommend Listening
    This show fills a Russia-sized hole in the CSIS lineup, and in the podcast space in general. There are not enough podcasts out there that regularly offer high quality analysis of Russia, which is a shame, but we finally have the return of Russian Roulette to the scene and I’m thankful for that. The hosts are excellent, as are the guests, and I appreciate that the show goes for about an hour (I’d gladly listen even longer). I would note that the audio can be flat at times and can make it hard on the listener. I don’t think that they’re doing this in studio. This seems to affect however it is that they’re recording Dr. Snegovaya more often. I’m interested in her research and perspective, so I truly hope that this can be fixed.
  • female victim
    Audio?
    Great content but sometimes hard to follow because the audio is lacking.
  • emma hopewell
    Expand Access
    To truly diversify the field ask public school systems to diversify their world language course offerings. A language like Russian needs to be offered in middle school so that high school students can achieve some intermediate level of skill before college. More traditionally taught languages have a monopoly on language instruction in schools. Until access expands beyond elite school systems, diversity will be difficult to achieve in area studies programs.
  • Chigmata
    Poignant and topical
    I have an international security background and this podcast is essential for maintaining my academic curiosity and topical sharpness. I don’t miss an episode.
  • tahirmuh
    Great stuff
    The Podcast is great resource for Russia watchers like me, hosts are extremely knowledgeable,
  • ninadianna
    Informative, relevant, Great topics!
    Discusses a variety of topics relating to Eurasia and Russia, super relevant in our day and age, great commentators and guest speakers. Thank you! :)
  • Fyodor Bazaroff
    Excellent
    Extremely valuable podcast. Gotta love Olya.
  • Mcb2491
    Keep up the great work!
    Great meeting Cyrus last week! Keep it up
  • dcostaroberts
    A Must for Foreign Policy Nerds
    A great podcast offering incisive analysis from the hosts and their many distinguished guests. It’s the best show on Russia that I’ve found, and it isn’t full of annoying ads!
  • ShawnEB
    Phenomenal
    Absolutely the best think tank podcast out there as well as the best podcast on all things Russia. The diversity and range of topics is vast while still providing enough continuity to feel like each episode is part of a larger conversation. It is also, perhaps suprisingly for a podcast on Russia, highly entertaining with a good dash of humor.
  • LaineM.
    Informative about all things Russian
    I can't recommend this podcast enough for other people who are interested in Russian culture.
  • Mayapram
    Fun and informative!
    Excellent selection of hosts and guests, deep insightful conversations about "everything Russia", always fun to listen
  • spoko
    Like listening to two teenage siblings who know a lot about Russia
    On one hand, I love this podcast. It's very informative; the hosts know about Russia's international situations in quite a bit of detail, and they get a lot of well-informed and insightful guests. I would give it five stars, except that it's so painful to listen to. The hosts are constantly -- probably a dozen times per episode, on average -- interrupting each other to nitpick about some detail that the other one has just mentioned. It's rare that one of them elocutes an entire thought or idea without the other one sidetracking one or two or more times in order to question some minute detail. Often it's a parenthetical detail in the first place. On the most recent episode, there was an entire tangent about whether the 2011 protests were, or were not, sizeable. Really? By the end I didn't even recognize what larger point the mention of the protests was even in aid of. I'm begging you, hosts, let each other finish a thought, would you? Otherwise I really don't know how much longer I can continue to subscribe. In spite of the fact that it's consistently one of my most informative podcasts.
  • Propst26
    Queen of the Podcast
    I really like this podcast, and find the information very well presented. My primary gripe is that the female host is constantly interrupting the other host and guests! Sometimes she will correct them for no reason, interject to make an unrelated weird comment, etc. Stop talking over everyone.
  • Cmcd360
    Wonderful
    For all things Russian this is a one stop shop. If you're looking for thoughtful discussion this is the place to go. I look forward to this populating my feed every week.
  • Adollsgarden
    Excellent show
    This is a useful podcast that gives an academic view of Russia. Highly recommend.
  • Nihonjean
    In-depth Russia geopolitics
    I listen to every episode.
  • evanrevak
    For those interested in Russian/Eurasian affairs
    This podcast is for you! The moderators, Olga Oliker and Jeffrey Mankoff, not only invite erudite, knowledgeable guests onto the show, they also add value through their insightful questions helping to digger deeper into the past and current affairs of the post-Soviet world. Additionally, the podcast spans numerous and varied topics: history, economics, regional analysis, civil society, Georgian wine recommendations, and many more. That means that every episode provides another insightful commentary on a vastly diverse and unique region of the world. Although Russia tends to be the fulcrum for topics, the podcast does an excellent job of shuffling the deck and bringing to light topics that may allude typical media sources on the region. Thank you for this podcast!
  • Troy_Mo
    Excellent analysis
    Love the show. Dr. Jeff and Olga produce interesting, informative, and entertaining content. With tough questions during interviews and a synergy found in those who work closely, this show is a must for anyone interested in the real dynamics of geopolitics. (Several interviews have even warranted a second and third listen!) I subscribe to numerous podcasts; this is my favorite.
  • CowPunkRockStar
    A very worthwhile enterprise...
    ... and (the vast majority of) your conversations are completely justified! Well done. Thank you for all of the information and analysis. Your efforts are sincerely appreciated.
  • Ghost Qaddafi
    Great
    So far, amazing work. Looking forward to more.
  • HA Schwartz
    Superb!
    One of the best new podcasts on out there on foreign policy.
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