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PODCAST

In Moscow"s Shadows

Russia, behind the headlines as well as in the shadows. This podcast is the audio counterpart to Mark Galeotti"s blog of the same name, a place where "one of the most informed and provocative voices on modern Russia", can talk about Russia historical and (more often) contemporary, discuss new books and research, and sometimes talk to other Russia-watchers. If you"d like to keep the podcast coming and generally support my work, or want to ask questions or suggest topics for me to cover, do please

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All Episodes

42:21

In Moscow's Shadows 183: War and Peace (and Public...

In Moscow"s Shadows ·

2025/01/12

We pundits have done more than our fair share speculating on whether, how, when and with what consequences there could be peace or a ceasefire in Ukraine, but instead it seems a good time to see what various research projects suggest about what ordinary Russians and Ukrainians think. This is something that is actually harder to ascertain than one might assume, but it important, not least for conditioning the decisions the respective governments may make.The various articles and surveys I cite...

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54:59

In Moscow's Shadows 182: Things To Watch in 2025

In Moscow"s Shadows ·

2025/01/05

Outright prediction may be a mug's game, but what are some of the people and processes I will be watching in 2025?For those who get lost in the flow, they are:PERSONALIA· Elvira Nabiullina· Ramzan Kadyrov · Alexander Khinshtein · Alexei Dyumin · Sergei Naryshkin · Nikolai Patrushev · (Not ...

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34:47

In Moscow's Shadows 181: Strap in for a Bumpy 2025

In Moscow"s Shadows ·

2024/12/29

Sabotage under the Baltic, a grudging apology, a possible attack on a Russian cargo ship, firebombing ATMs, energy blackmail in Moldova... what connects them beyond a sense that, having changed his rules of engagement abroad in 2024, Putin may find this coming to bite him in 2025. Either way, it looks like the coming year will be a bumpy one, to say the least.The podcast's corporate partner and sponsor is Conducttr, which provides software for innovative and immersive crisis exercises in hybr...

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57:48

In Moscow's Shadows 180: Keep Calm and Carry On

In Moscow"s Shadows ·

2024/12/22

What can one learn from Putin's 4½-hour-long end of year press conference? Essentially, his message to his people is that - however they might feel - everything is fine and they should stay the course. Meanwhile, over Ukraine if anything his line may be hardening: he may talk of 'compromise', but is trying to define the terms of any future peace. Anyway, I listened to 4½ hours, and offer you only one hour... The article by Joshua Huminski I mentioned is here.The podcast's corporate partner an...

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52:24

In Moscow's Shadows 179: Sex, Drugs & Rocky Roads

In Moscow"s Shadows ·

2024/12/15

We tend to focus on the big challenges facing Russia: war, sanctions, the struggle of authoritarianism vs the remnants of civil society. Maybe it is time to look at some of the less often discussed problems that nonetheless characterise the emerging Russian 'polycrisis': demographics, the mephedrone epidemic, and crumbling transport infrastructure: sex, drugs and rocky roads.The OSW report on demographics I mentioned is here; the Global Initiative report on drugs is here.My IWM podcast on Syr...

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46:13

In Moscow's Shadows 178: Assad la vista, baby - what...

In Moscow"s Shadows ·

2024/12/08

So Bashar al-Assad's blood-drenched regime has fallen. Hurrah. But what now for Russia? Is this a terrible geopolitical defeat, or actually something that perversely frees it from a commitment made in 2015, yet less relevant today? What are the likely knock-on effects for Russia's position in the Mediterranean and Africa? The hottest of hot takes.That Q&A with Sam Heller and Aron Lund is at:https://tcf.org/content/commentary/syrias-civil-war-has-roared-back-how-far-can-the-rebels-go/ ...

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50:22

In Moscow's Shadows 177: Adaptation in Russia and...

In Moscow"s Shadows ·

2024/12/01

President Zelensky's suggestion that military attempts to retake the occupied territories could be abandoned in return for rapid NATO membership for Ukraine does mark a change in tack. What is driving this political-diplomatic adaptation?And, in the second half, I draw on four books that speak in different ways to how Russia has managed (and sometimes failed) to adapt to the military and economic struggle, to bring them to this position.The books are:Christopher Lawrence, The Battle for Kyiv ...

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55:30

In Moscow's Shadows 176: Is Andrei Belousov the...

In Moscow"s Shadows ·

2024/11/24

Schrödinger's Defence Minister, at once busy and visible yet strangely inconsequential and intangible, what can one make of Andrei Belousov, his rise and his chances of achieving anything in his current role?The entry page for the Conducttr online crisis exercise on Russian sabotage I mentioned is @ https://www.conducttr.com/russian-sabotageThe podcast's corporate partner and sponsor is Conducttr, which provides software for innovative and immersive crisis exercises in hybrid warfare, counter...

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48:56

In Moscow's Shadows 175: 'In a dangerous world,...

In Moscow"s Shadows ·

2024/11/17

'Strategic culture' means the underlying cultural assumptions about threats and options that informs a nation's specific strategic choices, and Russia's has been strikingly continuous for centuries. As I discuss, it reflects the underlying circumstances and challenges of the country, and while not a straightjacket -- Gorbachev and Brezhnev were products of the same culture -- it helps explain Putin's own decisions. The entry page for the Conducttr online crisis exercise on Russian sabotage I ...

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37:28

In Moscow's Shadows 174: Putin, Trump, and the...

In Moscow"s Shadows ·

2024/11/10

It's impossible to avoid talking about the potential implications of Donald Trump's election, even as its difficult to know for sure what he intends and almost as hard to say anything that hasn't already been said. I have a go, though, after considering Putin's hour-long speech and epic (or exhausting) 3-hour Q&A on the 'polyphonic' world order at Valdai.The podcast's corporate partner and sponsor is Conducttr, which provides software for innovative and immersive crisis exercises in hybri...

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49:51

In Moscow's Shadows 173: Personalistic Power under Putin

In Moscow"s Shadows ·

2024/11/03

I use reviews of three books to consider the risks and limitations of personalistic explanations of power under Putin, and whether a medieval concept of clan and family actually makes more sense...The books are:THE WIZARD OF THE KREMLIN by GIULIANO DA EMPOLI (Pushkin Press) THE KREMLIN’S NOOSE. PUTIN’S BITTER FEUD WITH THE OLIGARCH WHO MADE HIM RULER OF RUSSIA by AMY KNIGHT (Icon Books and Cornell UP)THE RULING FAMILIES OF RUS. CLAN, FAMILY AND KINGDOM, by CHRISTIAN RAFFENSPERGER and DON...

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39:08

In Moscow's Shadows 172: BRICS without Straw

In Moscow"s Shadows ·

2024/10/26

(It seems to be obligatory to use a weak BRICS/bricks pun, so I felt I had to follow...)The BRICS summit in Kazan (a smart place to hold it) gives all the appearances of being a propaganda win for Putin. However, I think it emphasised that in a new 'multipolar' world, he only has the friends he can afford to rent -- and some day the bill will become due.In the second half, I question whether Russia is genuinely falling back into the 'wild 90s'. Perhaps the 'stagnant 70s'? Or the 'decaying 80s...

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16:00

In Moscow's Shadows bonus minipodcast: North Koreans...

In Moscow"s Shadows ·

2024/10/21

Released to Patrons yesterday, a bonus mini-pod on the claims that North Korean combat troops are heading to fight in Ukraine and what the media discussion also says about the current discourse.The podcast's corporate partner and sponsor is Conducttr, which provides software for innovative and immersive crisis exercises in hybrid warfare, counter-terrorism, civil affairs and similar situations.You can also follow my blog, In Moscow's Shadows, and become one of the podcast's supporting Patrons...

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47:34

In Moscow's Shadows 171: The invisible and invidious...

In Moscow"s Shadows ·

2024/10/20

An all-spook episode, as I try to piece together the rise of FSB First Deputy Director Sergei Korolev, who seems the most likely figure to succeed current agency chief Bortnikov. Corruption, clientelism, feuds, the power of the St Petersburg clique, and the implications if Korolev does rise.The podcast's corporate partner and sponsor is Conducttr, which provides software for innovative and immersive crisis exercises in hybrid warfare, counter-terrorism, civil affairs and similar situations.Yo...

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48:20

In Moscow's Shadows 170: The Opposition Soap Opera

In Moscow"s Shadows ·

2024/10/13

At times it does look as if the emigre liberal opposition to Putin is in such a mess that it looks like a soap opera. So what are some of the recent plot twists and why are they so divided -- and, ultimately, is it necessarily such a bad thing?In the second half, should Russians have collective guilt for Putin and the war? I don't think so, and explain why -- and why it matters.The podcast's corporate partner and sponsor is Conducttr, which provides software for innovative and immersive crisi...

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47:12

In Moscow's Shadows 169: The GUSP, the most secret of...

In Moscow"s Shadows ·

2024/10/06

The appointment to the Security Council of Alexander Linets, head of the Main Directorate of Special Programs of the President of the Russian Federation (GUSP), is a suitable moment to look into this, the most secret of Russia's security agencies. Is it about more than just bunkers and the continuity of governance in an apocalypse? Is there any truth that it is the final 'watcher over the watchers,' does secret jobs for the president, and even protects him against psychic attack? I lay out wh...

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43:05

In Moscow's Shadows 168: Putin Wants Us To Have...

In Moscow"s Shadows ·

2024/09/29

Putin's at it again, raising nuclear fears to unsettle the West. Or is the new revision to Russian nuclear doctrine more than just a bit of sabre-rattling? I suggest it is, with bearing on potential Ukrainian endgames. But we ought not to become too fearful: as I discuss in the second half, there are good reasons for him not to use his non-strategic nuclear weapons. The podcast's corporate partner and sponsor is Conducttr, which provides software for innovative and immersive crisis exercises ...

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47:25

In Moscow's Shadows 167: Shoigu Redux

In Moscow"s Shadows ·

2024/09/21

While the Security Council itself is having its time wasted with trivia, new Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu has been busy. How has he survived (is it the shaman connection? It is not), and what do his goals seem to be?And, with President Zelensky about to unveil his 'victory plan', are the two sides beginning to contemplate possible endgames?The podcast's corporate partner and sponsor is Conducttr, which provides software for innovative and immersive crisis exercises in hybrid warfa...

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18:55

In Moscow's Shadows 166: Raider Nation, a quick news...

In Moscow"s Shadows ·

2024/09/18

I still haven't decided how/if to continue with these mid-week quickfire podcasts picking up on some news stories that catch my eye, but in the meantime, there's a divorce/business shootout in Moscow, more traffic fines (it matters, believe me) and another general under arrest. The podcast's corporate partner and sponsor is Conducttr, which provides software for innovative and immersive crisis exercises in hybrid warfare, counter-terrorism, civil affairs and similar situations.You can also fo...

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58:27

In Moscow's Shadows 165: Prince Bogdoi, Information...

In Moscow"s Shadows ·

2024/09/15

What may a misadventure from 17th century Russian imperial history tell us about modern Russia? Why, about the perils of information logjams and public-private empires!Details of the Pushkin House event I mentioned are here, and the Pertsev article is here.The podcast's corporate partner and sponsor is Conducttr, which provides software for innovative and immersive crisis exercises in hybrid warfare, counter-terrorism, civil affairs and similar situations.You can also follow my blog, In Mosco...

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