Building and sharing a knowledge base on Russian international acting and thinking

Great powers still matter disproportionately. This truism implies that the world would greatly benefit from getting a better analytical handle on what really makes these ever surprising geopolitical entities - first and foremost China, but to us Europeans still also Russia (and increasingly even the United States) - tick. Today, that analysis still remains very much in the hands of what I like to call 'prima donnas' (and I am of course as 'guilty', as many of the colleagues I'm 'charging' here). Many of us have been studying these countries intensively for decades. Many of us have come to different conclusions about what these actors have been doing, about what is really makes them 'tick'. Many of us write articles, reports and books; we advise decision-makers; we present and discuss our views at conferences; we are active on social media; we interact with more traditional media. Very few of us, however, have been trying to build a dispassionate, comprehensive, rigorous and creative knowledge base. Georgia Tech and HCSS have been engaged in such an effort for the past two years, and we would like to invite interested colleagues to reach out to us to join us in this effort.

Jeremy Azrael

[I mentioned in my first post that I would also deal in this blog with some Russian/(post-) Soviet issues. Here is a piece I wrote upon hearing that one of RAND's most influential Soviet/Russia gurus, Jeremy Azrael, had passed away on March 19, 2009. People interested in the field of Soviet/Russian studies might still get a kick out it. Or not.]