Russia, Quo Vadis?

Sabine Fischer; Alexey Levinson; Dmitry Suslov; Sergey Utkin
Moderator: Olga Oliker

Russia will hold legislative elections on 19 September 2021. At stake are 450 seats in the State Duma.
- Do the temperature and mood of the Russian electorate provide any indications of the outcome of these elections?
- Who are the serious challengers to the sitting power?
- What does Navalny represent to Russians—a fearless hero or a fearless fool—and how relevant a political player is he?
- Will the younger generation take an active role or remain disengaged from political life?
- What does the Russian electorate think of the West?
- What is the level of mistrust in society, and has it been influenced by COVID?
- Is Putin taking, as Francis Fukuyama notes, risks that the Soviets would have never taken,
and what might this mean?