Organized by the project «Country and World»
The Country and The World: Russian Realities 2025
Berlin / November 21–22
On November 21–22, 2025, the Eighth International Conference «Country and World: Russian Realities-2025» will take place. From 2018 to 2021, the conferences were held by the Sakharov Center in Moscow. Since 2022, the conference has been held in Berlin.
Political scientists, sociologists, and economists will discuss the transformation of the political regime, its ideology and repressive policies, the wartime economy, changes in public sentiment, as well as processes occurring in international relations.
The conference will take place in Berlin and will be streamed on the «Country and World» YouTube channel.
Day One
Guest Arrival 9.30-10.00 CET
Session 1
Evolution of the Russian Political Regime
10.00-11.30 CET
Kirill Rogov
Political scientist, director of the Re:Russia project
The enemies of the heroes of the «Special Military Operation»: a silent debate about the future in Russian society
Ekaterina Shulman
Political scientist, non-resident scholar at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center Berlin
Erosion of Routine: Limits of Adaptability and Administrative Dysfunction in the Fourth Year of the War
Coffee-break
11.30-12.00 CET
Session 2
The Russian Threat and Europe’s Response
12.00-13.30 CET
Alexander Baunov
Senior Fellow, Editor-in-Chief at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center
Roland Freudenstein
Co-founder of the Brussels Freedom Hub, Senior Research Fellow at GLOBSEC
Turning the tables: from resilience and deterrence to supporting freedom in Russia and elsewhere
Maxim Kurnikov
Senior editor of Bild, head of the media «Echo»
Lunch
13.30-14.30 CET
Session 3
War Forever: Why Trump’s Peace Initiative Failed and Whether Putin Plans to Fight Forever
14.30-16.45 CET
Alexander Morozov
Political scientist
Three Scenarios for the End of the War. Consequences for Russia
Vasily Zharkov
Political analyst, Associate Professor at the European Humanities University in Vilnius
Trump, Putin, and the Structure of U.S.-Russia Relations in 2025
Andreas Umland
Analyst at the Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies (SCEEUS) at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs, Associate Professor of Political Science at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy
Security Guarantee Issues for Ukraine
Kirill Martynov
Editor at Novaya Gazeta Europe
Maxim Kurnikov
Senior editor of Bild, head of the media «Echo»
Coffee-break
16.45-17.30 CET
Session 4
Neototalitarian Trends and the Ideologization of Society
17.30-19.45 CET
Ksenia Luchenko
Journalist, researcher of Russian Orthodoxy, its influence on Russian politics and society, author of «With Good Intentions: The Russian Orthodox Church and Power from Gorbachev to Putin»
Evolution of the Russian Orthodox Church During the War: The Origins of the Alliance Between the Church and Nationalists
Dina Khapaeva
Historian, sociologist, lecturer at Georgia Tech (Atlanta), author of «Terror and Memory»
Russian Political Neomedievalism: Normalization of Terror as a Method of Governance
Sergey Davidis
Head of the independent human rights project «Support for Political Prisoners. Memorial»
Political Repressions in 2025: Leading Charges — Treason and Terrorism
Day Two
Session 5
Resistance and Submission: How Russian Society Adapts to War and Dictatorship
10.00-11.30 CET
Vsevolod Bederson
Political scientist, researcher at the «Chronicles» project
Multiverses of the Special Military Operation: Acceptance and Rejection of War in Russian Society
Andrey Kolesnikov
Columnist for Novaya Gazeta and The New Times
Reason and Feelings in Captivity: Mechanisms of Escape from Reality
Coffee-break
11.30-12.00 CET
Session 6
Identity and International Relations During Wartime
12.00-13.30 CET
Lev Gudkov
Research Director at Levada Center
Friends and Enemies of Russia: Collective Identity During the Special Military Operation
Andreas Heinemann-Grüder
Professor of Political Science, University of Bonn, Research Fellow, Global Public Policy Institute
Fundamentalist Historical Narrative and Russian Politics
Inna Berezkina
Program Director at the School of Civic Education, editor at Sapere Online, Research Fellow at The World in Pieces Program at IWM, Wien
Lunch
13.30-14.30 CET
Session 7
Can the Economy Withstand War?
14.30-16.00 CET
Alexandra Prokopenko
Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center
Russian Economy: No Conventional Balancing Instruments Left. What's Next?
Andrey Yakovlev
Associate Researcher at the Davis Center (Harvard) and at the Free University of Berlin
War of Attrition: economic stagnation, and the mobilizational transformation of Russian elites
Coffee-break
16.00-16.30 CET
Session 8
Elite Repressions, Redistribution of Property and Spheres of Influence
16.30-18.00 CET
Nikolay Petrov
Political scientist
The Russian Political System Through the Lens of Repressions: How Putin’s Repressions Differ from Stalin’s
Oksana Antonenko
Professor at the European University Institute in Florence, research fellow at the Kennan Institute in Washington
The Political Economy of War: Winners and Losers from the Demodernization of Russia
Session 9
Short presentations by discussants and closing of the conference
18.30-20.00 CET
Inna Berezkina
Program Director at the School of Civic Education, editor at Sapere Online, Research Fellow at The World in Pieces Program at IWM, Wien
Andrei Pertsev
Journalist, special correspondent for Meduza, author of Riddle
Dmitry Stratievsky
Political scientist, historian, director of the Center for Eastern European Studies (Osteuropa-Zentrum Berlin e.V.)
Kirill Shamiev
Research fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations
