The Real Reason Russia Invaded Ukraine | Sergey Radchenko YouTube video by Pyotr Kurzin | Geopolitics

I spoke to Pyotr Kurzin about Russia-Ukraine. Watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=nM_P....

Maybe that's why it resonates with so many people.

‘I had poked the bear right in the eye’: my fight to renounce my Russian citizenship The long read: When Putin invaded Ukraine, he raised murder to the level of national policy. I felt guilt by association. And I had to act

Over the last few days I received quite an overwhelming number of e-mails in relation to this piece: www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a.... I'll try to answer them all, albeit gradually. The piece is superficially about Russia. But I think it's fundamentally about understanding one's own identity.

Thank, Jim. Truly humbled by all the attention this piece has been getting. It does speak to dilemmas people face: this is certainly not just my story.

The short answer is that I don't mind the Russian language at all. Russia holds no monopoly over the Russian language.

Don't encourage me!

Thanks, Sasha! Very kind of you to say this.

‘I had poked the bear right in the eye’: my fight to renounce my Russian citizenship The long read: When Putin invaded Ukraine, he raised murder to the level of national policy. I felt guilt by association. And I had to act

Enjoy the (long!) read. It's poignant but also comical in places. The strange story of my life: www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a....

The story recounts my decision to renounce Russian citizenship, and it discusses issues like guilt and responsibility, but also questions of belonging (or, very often, non-belonging). It's a story that will upset many people. But I don't see a reason to hide.

I have a long piece in the Guardian about... well, myself. As a writer and a historian, I generally tell other people's stories. So, this story was difficult to write. It took me about six months. It's about my understanding of my own identity: who, or what am I, really?

"For all of Putin’s huffing and puffing, Russia is really no more than a regional power, just as U.S. President Barack Obama once averred."

bsky.app/profile/radc...

Putin’s Persian Problem Don’t overthink it. The Iran war is bad for Russia.

We tend to assume that Trump's war against Iran is helping Putin, but this is only true if the war becomes a quagmire. That's a big if. My latest for Foreign Policy: foreignpolicy.com/2026/03/30/t....

How the United States lost Iran Behind Washington’s failure to predict the Iranian Revolution of 1979 lay a long history of hubris, strategic miscalculations and delusional thinking.

Behind Washington’s failure to predict the Iranian Revolution of 1979 lay a long history of hubris, strategic miscalculations and delusional thinking.

How the United States lost Iran | @radchenko.bsky.social

engelsbergideas.com/reviews/how-...

For UK audiences. *To Run the World* is now available in paperback (as of last week), and can be purchased here: www.amazon.co.uk/Run-World-Kr.... Priced at £14.99, so never cheaper! Your leisurely beach reaching as the summer arrives.

My review of Scott Anderson's superb book.

American-led upheaval. Is there still an axis or do we need a new framing?

American-led upheaval. Do we need a new term? Some thoughts. open.substack.com/pub/profradc...

Iran in the Cold War A useful background read.

Iran in the Cold War. A useful background read from To Run the World. open.substack.com/pub/profradc...

To Run the World: The Kremlin's Cold War Bid for Global Power To Run the World: The Kremlin's Cold War Bid for Global Power [Radchenko, Sergey] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. To Run the World: The Kremlin's Cold War Bid for Global Power

Ah look what’s here: the paperback version of Two Run the World. Never been a better time to buy a copy! www.amazon.com/Run-World-Kr....

Killing the chicken to scare the monkey How Moscow and Beijing have reacted to the U.S. and Israeli strikes against the Middle East

"Killing the chicken to scare the monkey:
How Moscow and Beijing have reacted to the U.S. and Israeli strikes against the Middle East." My thoughts.
open.substack.com/pub/profradc...

A morning rant about national identities “So, do you ever go back to Russia?”—the woman asked sympathetically.

A morning rant about national identities open.substack.com/pub/profradc....

Cuban missile crisis | What if Arkhipov & Soviet sub B-59 had fired its torpedos? | History Undone YouTube video by History Undone

Got to talk about the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is always disturbing and fun. www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Dft....

Russia's invasion of Ukraine: new evidence Some highlights from Shaun Walker's amazing piece, with a few comments

Some thoughts on Shaun Walker's brilliant piece in the Guardian: open.substack.com/pub/profradc.... And here's the piece itself: www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int....

Russia's Arctic game President Putin sees Greenland as a testing ground for his vision of a world divided into spheres of influence, in which the United States and Russia set the rules of the game and keep the other playe...

But there is also some interesting evidence here on what the Russians have actually been saying about Greenland. Read here: engelsbergideas.com/essays/russi....

Engelsberg Ideas just published my piece on Putin’s views vis-a-vis Trump’s claims to Greenland. It’s mainly a historical piece, where I try to understand how ideas about “spheres of influence” have evolved in the Kremlin’s thinking over the years.

Reading Kofman Mike's latest piece on the Russia-Ukraine war, and my comments

Reading Kofman. Some thoughts on Michael Kofman's great piece in Foreign Affairs. open.substack.com/pub/profradc...

Writing a history of the Russia-Ukraine war New Boris Johnson releases

Writing a history of the Russia-Ukraine war. I talk about Boris Johnson's visits to Ukraine in 2022, and what I was and was not able to obtain through FOIA requests: open.substack.com/pub/profradc...

Sergey Radchenko (@radchenko.bsky.social), Distinguished Professor at Johns Hopkins SAIS, joins Katia Glod, NEST Centre’s Deputy Head of Foreign Policy, to assess the trajectory of the talks, Moscow’s calculus, and the prospects for either a negotiated outcome or an extended war.

Red Dawn Over China: How Communism Conquered a Quarter of Humanity — brutality behind the propaganda Frank Dikötter dismantles CCP myths about Mao’s leadership to tell a story of Chinese repression that is still relevant today

www.ft.com/content/e4b8.... My review of Frank Dikötter's new book, Red Dawn Over China.

⚪ Origins of the War

A conversation with @radchenko.bsky.social

📅 February 11
🕙 10:00 AM ET

RSVP Now ⬇️
zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Damn. I got a medal from the Council on Foreign Relations, which is super exciting.