Ending before starting? Director of academic transformation and prof. of national security, Bowie State University

An old Russian joke has it that a pessimist believes things can’t possibly get worse, whereas an optimist is confident they can. Just a few decades ago, the Cold War seemed like a major existential threat to the world but nowadays it looks like a period of deft diplomacy and successful conflict management. Does the situation in and around Ukraine offer any hope for pessimism? To discuss this, Oksana is joined by Matthew Crosston, Director of Academic Transformation and Professor of National Security at Bowie State University and author of ‘Russia Reconsidered: Putin, Power and Pragmatism’ and many other works covering post-Soviet affairs.