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CSIS | Center for Strategic and International Studies

Russian Roulette takes a look at the politics, economics, and culture of Russia and Eurasia through both interviews and lively discussion with experts from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and around the world. Hosted by CSIS Russia and Eurasia Program experts Olga Oliker and Jeffrey Mankoff.

Russian Roulette

Max and Maria sit down with Kate Bondar, Senior Fellow at CSIS’s Wadhwani AI Center and expert on autonomous warfare, to discuss the role of drones in combat in Ukraine, including Russia’s innovation tactics and takeaways from the recent increase in strikes on Moscow and Kyiv. 

Mentioned: 

 
How Russia Is Building a Sovereign Drone Ecosystem for AI-Driven Autonomy | CSIS report by Kate Bondar 

 
Defining Autonomy: Why Software, Not Drones, Will Decide the Next War | CSIS report by Kate Bondar and Matt Mande 

 
Russia Is Building Tomorrow’s War Machine | Kate Bondar in The New York Times 

Feedback? Suggestions? Ideas to help us improve? Email us at erep@csis.org. 

If you love Russian Roulette, let us know by subscribing and leaving a review wherever you get your podcasts. 

Listen to our sister podcast, covering all things Europe through a Washington lens: CSIS Podcasts | The Eurofile

How Drone Innovation Reshapes the Battlefield in Ukraine with Kate Bondar

Max and Maria sit down with Dr. Nina Khrushcheva, Professor of International Affairs at the New School and one of the world’s leading experts on Russia, to discuss her new Russian‑language book Nikita Khrushchev: Vozhd vne sistemy (“Nikita Khrushchev: An Outlier of the System”) and her experience as one of the few scholars still traveling to and from Russia. As Nikita Khrushchev’s great‑granddaughter and adoptive granddaughter, she offers a rare, personal view of how Russian culture, politics, and society are evolving.

Mentioned: 

 
No Exit from Stalin | by Nina L. Khrushcheva in Project Syndicate (April 2026) 

 
Russia’s Descent Into Tyranny: How Four Years of War Have Remade Society | by Nina L. Khrushcheva in Foreign Affairs (Dec. 2025) 

 
Nikita Khrushchev: Vozhd vne sistemy (Nikita Khrushchev: An Outlier of the System) | Book by Nina L. Khrushcheva 

Feedback? Suggestions? Ideas to help us improve? Email us at erep@csis.org. 

If you love Russian Roulette, let us know by subscribing and leaving a review wherever you get your podcasts. 

Listen to our sister podcast, covering all things Europe through a Washington lens: CSIS Podcasts | The Eurofile

Dr. Nina Khrushcheva: History, Evolution, and a View from Inside Russia

Max and Maria welcome Sir Lawrence Freedman, historian, author, and Emeritus Professor of War Studies, King's College London, to discuss the future of the war in Ukraine, how he sees the conflict evolving, and what to expect in the critical months ahead.

 
Is Ukraine winning the drone race? by Sir Lawrence Freedman 

 
Link to Substack: Comment is Freed 

Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Ideas to help us improve? Email us at erep@csis.org. 

If you love Russian Roulette, let us know by subscribing and leaving a review wherever you get your podcasts. 

Listen to our sister podcast, covering all things Europe through a Washington lens: CSIS Podcasts | The Eurofile

Shifting Tides in Ukraine - Lawrence Freedman on the Future of the War

Max and Maria welcome back Dr. Sam Greene, professor of Russian Politics at King's College London, to discuss the state of Russian public opinion today, and whether domestic conditions have begun change given the state of the economy, war, and reports of increasing paranoia in the Kremlin.

War, Inflation, and Putin's Paranoia: has Russian Public Opinion Begun to Shift?

Max and Maria welcome back Elina Ribakova to discuss her latest piece in Foreign Affairs, exploring the Ukrainian defense industry and its potential capacity to help Europe secure its own defense. 

More from Elina in Foreign Affairs: Europe’s Untapped Arsenal: Ukraine Has Forged the Defense Industry the Continent Desperately Needs

The Ukrainian Defense Industry and Europe’s Untapped Arsenal

Max and Maria are joined by journalist and author Julia Ioffe to discuss her recent book, Motherland: A Feminist History of Modern Russia, from Revolution to Autocracy.

Motherland is available now from HarperCollins Publishers.

The History of Russian Feminism with Julia Ioffe

Max and Maria are joined by Hanna Notte and Janis Kluge for a deep dive on how the Iran war and turmoil in global energy markets continue to impact Russian foreign policy.

 This conversation was recorded on March 25, 2026.

How the Iran War and the Price of Oil Impact the Kremlin's Calculus

Max sat down with Michael Kimmage for a rapid fire session running over the potential implications of the ongoing war in the Middle East for Russian foreign policy.

This conversation was recorded on March 19, 2026.

BONUS EPISODE: What the Iran War Means for Russia

Max and Maria spoke with Alexander Cooley and Daniel Nexon about how authoritarian and illiberal governments leverage transnational corruption as part of their foreign policies and global strategies.

This conversation was recorded on Tuesday, March 3, 2026.

"The Age of Kleptocracy: Geopolitical Power, Private Gain" by Alexander Cooley and Daniel Nexon (Foreign Affairs, February 2026)

Dictating the Agenda: The Authoritarian Resurgence in World Politics by Alexander Cooley and Alexander Dukalskis (Oxford University Press, 2025)

Transnational Corruption in Foreign Policy Today

Eric Ciaramella of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace returned to the show to discuss his recent article with Sophia Besch on the ways that European states can support Ukraine militarily without the involvement of the U.S. Max and Maria asked him about his piece, the funding questions behind its ideas, and Eric's overall assessment on peace negotiations with Russia.

This conversation was recorded on February 26, 2026.

"Fortress Ukraine: How a Coalition of the Willing Can Rearm Kyiv Without Washington," by Eric Ciaramella and Sophia Besch (Foreign Affairs, January 2026).

"What If Trump Gets His Russia-Ukraine Deal?" by Eric Ciaramella (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, February 2026).

How Drone Innovation Reshapes the Battlefield in Ukraine with Kate Bondar

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