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“Putin’s World,” with The World Affairs Council at CLS

  • Charleston Library Society 164 King Street Charleston, SC, 29401 United States (map)

Together with the Charleston Library Society and the World Affairs Council of Charleston, Buxton Books is excited to welcome diplomacy expert and author Angela Stent to Charleston for a talk on Russia’s international relations under President Putin and her book Putin’s World.

Along with the World Affairs Council of Charleston and Charleston Library Society, we are honored to have the opportunity to host renowned diplomacy expert Angela Stent, for insights into President Putin’s approach to international relations and her incisive exploration of ‘how and why Russia has returned to the world stage. As the Senior Advisor to the Center for Eurasian, Russian, and East European Studies, and Professor Emerita of Government and Foreign Service at Georgetown University, her book, Putin’s World, uniquely examines the country’s turbulent past and the Russians’ understanding of their position on the global stage and their ambitions. Originally published in 2019, the revised edition out last year now also includes a new chapter solely dedicated to the war in Ukraine. 

“Informed by its author’s distinguished career in government and academia, this account of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s worldview provides an important window into one of the key geopolitical challenges of our time. Casual observers and seasoned experts will benefit from Dr. Stent’s brilliant exploration of Putin’s strategy and its disturbing implications for the West.”  ―Former Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright

If you are unable to attend the event, but would like to purchase one or more signed copies, please visit Buxton Books here.

Ticketing Information Listed Below:

CLS Member // WACC Member: $0

General Admission (Book-included): $30

General Admission (2 Tickets, 1 Book): $40

Add a signed book: $18.99

To purchase your tickets, please click here.

About the Book:

How did Russia manage to emerge resurgent on the world stage and play a weak hand so effectively? Is it because Putin is a brilliant strategist? Or has Russia stepped into a vacuum created by the West’s distraction with its own domestic problems and US ambivalence about whether it still wants to act as a superpower? Putin’s World examines the country’s conviction that the West has tried to deny them a seat at the table of great powers since the USSR collapsed. This book looks at Russia’s key relationships—its downward spiral with the United States, Europe, and NATO; its ties to China, Japan, the Middle East; and with its neighbors, particularly the fraught relationship with Ukraine. Putin’s World will help Americans understand how and why the post-Cold War era has given way to a new, more dangerous world, one in which Russia poses a challenge to the United States in every corner of the globe—and one in which Russia has become a toxic and divisive subject in US politics.

About Angela Stent:

Angela Stent is Senior Adviser to the Center for Eurasian, Russian, and East European Studies and Professor Emerita of Government and Foreign Service at Georgetown University. She is also a fellow at the Brookings Institution and a senior advisor to the United States Institute of Peace. She was a member of the senior advisory panel for NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander in Europe for Admiral James Stavridis and General Philip Breedlove. From 2004 to 2006, she served as National Intelligence Officer for Russia and Eurasia at the National Intelligence Council. She is the author of The Limits of Partnership: US-Russian Relations in the Twenty-First Century, for which she won the American Academy of Diplomacy’s Douglas Dillon prize for the best book on the practice of American diplomacy. Stent’s primary research focus is Russian foreign policy, with special emphasis on the triangular U.S-Europe-Russia relationship. Her latest book is Putin’s World: Russia Against the West and With the Rest (2019, updated paperback 2023), for which she won the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy’s prize for the best book on U.S-Russian Relations. Dr. Stent received her B.A. from Cambridge University, her MSc. with distinction from the London School of Economics and Political Science and her M.A. and PhD. from Harvard University.

About The World Affairs Council:

The World Affairs Council of Charleston (WACC), formerly the Charleston Foreign Affairs Forum, was founded in the early 1980s as a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization. Membership represents a cross-section of individuals from business, education, and civic backgrounds. Through thought-provoking presentations and discussions, participants of all ages and backgrounds are invited to challenge and enhance their understanding of the world. WACC is a 501(c)(3) organization and is a member of the World Affairs Councils of America, a network of 93 independent, nonpartisan councils across 40 states.

To purchase your tickets, please click here.