Russia’s foreign and security policies and military capabilities have increasingly become topics of public discussion, not least as a consequence of the Ukraine crisis and Moscow’s military intervention in Syria. Yet both media and academic analyses have focused largely on the international dimension. Questions of the internal relations between the military and society are covered only selectively and on the margins. Yet the (re-)militarisation of Russia’s politics and population is a cause for concern on many levels. In her new book, Nadja Douglas investigates how various societal actors in Russia keep a watchful eye on the military apparatus. In doing so, she moves the focus away from the traditional civil-military relationship between political and military elites and concentrates instead on human and societal security, in particular the notorious issues of recruitment and conscription.

Author Nadja Douglas will present the central themes of her work and discuss them with invited experts. The panel includes Timm Beichelt of the Viadrina European University, Wilfried von Bredow, and Eric Sangar of the University of Namur. Gwendolyn Sasse (ZOiS) will moderate the event.

Participants

• Timm Beichelt is professor of European studies in the Faculty of Social and Cultural Studies of the Viadrina European University in Frankfurt (Oder). His research focuses on the European Union, democracy in Eastern Europe, culture and politics, and right-wing radicalism in Eastern Europe.
• Wilfried von Bredow is an expert in security and security policy and has written numerous publications on the relationship between democracy and the military. Until 2009 he was professor of political science at the Philipps University in Marburg. Since 2010 he has been a professor at the Geneva Graduate School of Governance in Switzerland.
• Eric Sangar is an FNRS research fellow at the Tocqueville Chair of International Security at the University of Namur in Belgium. His research includes the role of NGOs in conflicts and the perception of conflict in military organisations today.