Program Description

The UCLA Center for Middle East Development hosted the event, "Putin's War in Ukraine: Roots, Consequences, and What It Means for the Middle East," on May 3, 2022.

Russian aggression against Ukraine shook up the EU, revived NATO, and made the Black Sea a global flashpoint. Most analysts see the situation in purely geopolitical terms. For them, Putin's regime is akin to the Soviet Politburo of old. In conversation with Professor Steven L. Spiegel, Russian affairs analyst Konstantin Eggert explains why this is a flawed vision, and explores the domestic roots of Putin's war, how it changed Russia's security environment, and what the potential consequences are for the Middle East.

Panel

PRESENTER— Konstantin Eggert is an independent Russian journalist and political commentator. Additionally, he is a columnist and program host for Deutsche Welle. From 2016 until 2018, Mr. Eggert worked for TV Rain, Russia’s groundbreaking independent TV channel. He also worked for Kommersant, Russia’s oldest private media group, as well as for ExxonMobil Russia Inc., where he was vice president for public and government affairs between 2009 and 2010. From 1998 until 2009, Mr. Eggert was with the BBC World Service, including seven years as the BBC Russian Service Moscow bureau chief from 2002 until 2009. In 2008, Her Majesty the Queen made Mr. Eggert honorary member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). He is a summa cum laude graduate of Moscow University Institute of Asian and African Studies.

MODERATOR— Dr. Steven Spiegel is the Director of the UCLA Center for Middle East Development. He is also a research professor of political science, focusing on international relations and American foreign policy in the Middle East. He has written over 100 books, articles, and papers. He is the author of “The Other Arab-Israeli Conflict: Making America’s Middle East Policy from Truman to Reagan,” and “World Politics in a New Era,” as well as one of the authors of "The Peace Puzzle: America’s Quest for Arab-Israeli Peace, 1989-2011."