Book Talk: Russia’s World Order
The idea of “civilizationism” has become a key part both of the Russian establishment’s image of Russia and of Russia’s diplomatic and intellectual outreach to the “Global South”. It helps to explain why so many countries around the world have refused to join the West in imposing sanctions on Russia in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Broadly speaking, civilizationism rejects the view that Western liberal capitalist democracy represents the “end of history” and a goal to which all countries should and indeed must aspire. Drawing on deep roots in history and philosophy (European and Asian as well as Russian), civilizationism argues for a plurality of civilizations, all of which have contributions to make to human development and world order.
To discuss these issues, Anatol Lieven, director of the Eurasia program at the Quincy Institute, is joined by Professor Paul Robinson, a leading expert on Russian thought and author of Russia’s World Order: How Civilizationism Explains the Conflict with the West, published in April 2025 by Cornell University Press.
The conversation will take place on Tuesday, May 13th from 12:00 – 1:00 PM Eastern Time.
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Panelists
Paul Robinson
Paul Robinson is a professor in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa. He is the author of numerous books and articles on Russian and Soviet history, including "Russian Conservatism" (Northern Illinois Press, 2019), and has also written regularly for the international press. Robinson served as a regular officer in the British Army Intelligence Corps from 1989 to 1994, and as a reserve officer in the Canadian Forces from 1994 to 1996.
Anatol Lieven
Anatol Lieven is director of the Eurasia Program at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. He was formerly a professor at Georgetown University in Qatar and in the War Studies Department of King’s College London. Lieven worked as a British journalist in South Asia, the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, and is author of several books on Russia and its neighbors including "Ukraine and Russia: A Fraternal Rivalry". He holds a BA and PhD from Cambridge University in England.