How do so many Russians either outright support this war or at least passively approve it? And what about Russians in Moscow and St. Petersburg? Do they have a more Western political culture?Can Russia ever drop its imperialistic mentality and make the country less violent abroad?To answer these questions and more, I spoke with Dr. Botakoz Kassymbekova, an expert on Russia imperialism, to discuss the concept of Russia's Imperial Innocence. Dr. Botakoz Kassymbekova is a professor of Eastern European History at the University of Zurich. Earlier, she received her BA and MA in Bishkek and Essex, respectively. Dr. Kassymbekova completed her doctorate at Humboldt University Berlin and worked as a postdoc in Berlin, Liverpool and Basel, as well as a guest scholar at Columbia University, New York. Her research focuses are Soviet history, Stalinism/post-Stalinism, and Russian imperial history.Listen in to understand the drivers behind Russian political culture and how Putin can sustain popular support for this war despite the extreme casualties and destruction of Russia's economy and demographics for the next generation.Her article noted in the podcast can be found here: https://www.ponarseurasia.org/time-to-question-russias-imperial-innocence/To learn more, visit: https://ubn.network/ Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters: https://missionmatters.com/author/Mark-McNamee/

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.