Join Columbia's Harriman Institute for a roundtable discussing the fears of Western policymakers that Russia is negatively interfering in Europe's periphery.

Is Russia threatening to disrupt more than two decades’ of EU and U.S. efforts to promote stability in post-communist Southeast Europe? Politicians and commentators in the West say, “yes.” With rising global anxiety over Russia’s political policies and objectives, the roundtable's participants will explore more deeply the ascendancy of Russia in the Western Balkans, the geopolitical rivalry that is now engaged with the European Union, the United States, Turkey, new players from the Gulf States, and China. Dimitar Bechev's new book "Rival Power: Russia in SouthEast Europe," will be available for purchase.

Participants:

Dimitar Bechev, director of the European Policy Institute, a think-tank based in Sofia, Bulgaria

Tanya Domi, Adjunct Assistant Professor of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University and a faculty affiliate of the Harriman Institute

Jasmin Mujanović, political scientist specialising in the politics of southeastern Europe and the politics of post-authoritarian and post-conflict democratisation

Srdjan Vucetic (also spelled Srđan Vučetić), Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Ottawa