How Much Stress Is Putin’s Regime Under?

This discussion with Donald N. Jensen, a leading expert on Russian politics, intelligence, and information warfare, examines the evolving pressures on Vladimir Putin’s system of rule, focusing on how Russia’s centralized governance — built on overlapping networks of political elites, oligarchs, and siloviki — is responding to mounting internal and external strain. Particular attention will be paid to recent developments: tightening digital controls through internet throttling, VPN disruptions, and pressure on platforms such as Telegram, WhatsApp, and YouTube as part of a broader “sovereign internet” push; shifting sanctions dynamics, including the possibility of partial easing; the widening gap between state propaganda and lived reality; recent military setbacks on the front; and the intensification of preemptive repression to deter dissent. The discussion will also examine the geopolitical impact of the war in Iran — including Russia’s indirect involvement, intelligence support, and the broader economic and strategic effects of the conflict — and assess how these pressures are perceived across Russian society and what they reveal about regime stability, considering both immediate risks and longer-term trajectories.

Hors d'oeuvres and refreshments will be provided.
RSVP is recommended, and donations welcomed.

Dr. Donald N. Jensen is an expert on Russian politics, foreign policy, and security affairs and teaches Russian Foreign Policy at Johns Hopkins University’s Krieger School of Arts and Sciences.

A former U.S. diplomat, Jensen supported the START, INF, and SDI negotiations with the USSR and was a member of the first U.S. inspection team to verify Soviet missiles under the INF Treaty in 1988. He later served at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow during the 1991 August Coup, where his team received the State Department’s Meritorious Honor Award.

From 1996 to 2008, he was Associate Director of Broadcasting and head of the Research Division at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, overseeing the organization’s post–Cold War broadcast expansion and modernization. A 2016 Visiting Scholar at the NATO Defense College in Rome, Jensen has written extensively on Russian and Ukrainian domestic and foreign policy, Kremlin negotiating behavior, and national security strategy.

He has lectured at Harvard, Oxford, and George Washington University and frequently appears as a commentator on international media. Jensen holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in Government from Harvard and a B.A. from Columbia University. He is fluent in Russian and Italian.

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