About the event

In March & April, Russia alarmed the West by amassing an estimated 100,000 soldiers near the Eastern border of Ukraine and in Crimea. The combined units included large numbers of tanks, artillery, and short-range ballistic missile systems, along with a strengthening of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet to an estimated 45 ships. This was the largest military force that Russia had concentrated near its borders, since Putin’s order to invade Crimea in 2014.

During his over 20 years in power, Putin has never been afraid to take dramatic actions that have shaken the US and its allies from: annexing Crimea; occupying parts of Georgia; escalating Russia’s combat role in Syria; meddling in US and Europe elections; or blurring of the lines between once accepted democratic norms and the shadows of autocracy. In April, he signed into law a constitutional change that would allow him to potentially be re-elected and remain as Russia’s president until 2036 – effectively serving as ‘president for life’ and ruling Russia for longer than Stalin. Putin has championed the development of new ‘invincible’ Russian super weapons, such as: nuclear armed cruise missiles with almost limitless range, and small underwater nuclear capable drones, which could be very difficult to detect.

In one of his annual ‘State of the Nation’ addresses, he not only boasted to the Russian people, and the world, about Russia’s growing military capabilities. Putin even proudly played a simulated video for all to see of Russian nuclear warheads flying through space and raining down on South Florida. Andrea Kendall-Taylor has spent years tracking Russia as the former Deputy National Intelligence Officer for Russia and Eurasia at the National Intelligence Council (NIC) and as a senior analyst at the CIA. She will address: what to expect from Putin in the years to come; the current state of political opposition in Russia; and what options the US and the West have and may use to reduce the threat of a resurgent Russia.

About the speaker

Andrea Kendall-Taylor, fmr. Deputy National Intelligence Officer at the NIC & CIA senior analyst
From 2015 to 2018, Andrea Kendall-Taylor was Deputy National Intelligence Officer for Russia and Eurasia at the National Intelligence Council (NIC) in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). In this role she led the U.S. intelligence community’s strategic analysis on Russia, represented the intelligence community in interagency policy meetings, provided analysis to the National Security Council, and briefed the Director of National Intelligence and other senior staff for White House and international meetings. Prior to joining the NIC, Kendall-Taylor was a senior analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency where she worked on Russia and Eurasia, the political dynamics of autocracies, and democratic decline. Currently Kendall-Taylor is a Senior Fellow and Director of the Transatlantic Security Program at the Center for a New American Security. She works on national security challenges facing the United States and Europe, focusing on Russia, authoritarianism and threats to democracy, and the state of the Transatlantic alliance. Kendall-Taylor is also an adjunct professor at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. Her work has been published in numerous political science and policy journals, including the Journal of Peace Research, Democratization, Journal of Democracy, Foreign Affairs, the Washington Post, the Washington Quarterly, and Foreign Policy. Andrea Kendall-Taylor received her B.A. in politics from Princeton University and her Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles. She was a Fulbright scholar in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, where she conducted dissertation research on oil and autocracy.