This episode presents a description of the current situation in Putin's totalitarian Russia and analyzes whether there is hope for change coming from within the country itself. It is a vivid picture of how authoritarian regimes shape what citizens see, believe, and think and how this leads to a profound sense of hopelessness, isolation, a state of general anxiety and despair. Is the resurgence of Putin’s new imperial ambitions likely to bolster his power nationally and internationally? Can sanctions or economic sanctions in general give a hope in resolving the conflict?
Today, liberal democracies are under unprecedented strain from within and without. In each episode of Democracy in Question, renowned social anthropologist and CEU President and Rector Shalini Randeria invites a leading scholar or public figure to explore the challenges and dilemmas facing democracies around the world. They investigate what needs to be done to ensure the future well-being of our democratic institutions and practices.
Join Randeria and her guests for a series of dynamic discussions about democratic issues worldwide. Listen to the trailer and subscribe now, wherever you get your podcasts.
To hear the first two series co-produced by the Graduate Institute’s Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy and the Institute for Human Sciences (IWM) Vienna, visit here.


CEU President and Rector Shalini Randeria