Historian of the Cold War and after. Rupert Murdoch Distinguished Professor @KissingerCenter @SAISHopkins. Now on Substack https://xitter.cf/t.co/loAavCmK89
Washington, Bologna, Nanjing
Joined January 2014
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I will soon be starting a new academic project: a history of the war between Russia and Ukraine. I am to have the book published by 2032 (10th anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion).
I have spent the last year+ researching the origins of the war for a future book. Relatedly, I have co-led a Stanford/Hoover team in interviewing dozens of key decision makers. I can say with a high level of confidence that this take is unmitigated bullshit.
Indeed--grateful to H.E. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu for his hospitality. The project continues.
@DrRadchenko and I received a very warm welcome in Ankara from H.E. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Türkiye's Foreign Minister from 2014 to 2023.
Sergey Radchenko retweeted
The Rise of the Russian Hawks: Ideology and Politics from the Late Soviet Union to Putin's Russia, Juliette Faure | Reviewed by Sergey Radchenko at doi.org/10.1093/psquar/qqag0….
Reading @simonmontefiore's new book on the Middle East. It's so much fun. Check this out, on Khomeini.
Sergey Radchenko retweeted
And if you can't get enough Cold War history, I spoke to Zubok and Radchenko about the former's book.
This episode is appropriately titled 'The Owl of Minerva'
history-as-it-happens.simple…
I’ve written a review of Vladislav Zubok’s new book, The World of the Cold War: 1945-1991, which will (eventually) appear in a few months in the Journal of Cold War Studies. In the meantime, I thought I’d put it here. Enjoy! And read the book!
profradchenko.substack.com/p…
Such a strange idea here from Meloni. The only way to stop provocations is not to go pretend nothing is happening. It is precisely to respond in a way that will deter further provocations. This burying of heads in the sand will only encourage Putin.
So, just over a year on. I feel like I know a lot more. Like seriously much more. But still a lot to understand. The aim is to write the first draft of history here. Tough.
Exciting!
We are very excited for @DrRadchenko's continued contributions to the @KissingerCenter in his new role as the Rupert Murdoch Distinguished Professor in Washington DC.
A great piece here by @petermsies for @EngelsbergIdeas. Peter & I have been runnings like hamsters on a wheel collecting evidence on Russia's war in Ukraine by interviewing senior policymakers. Great to see he's found the time to think about deeper questions of grand strategy.
My interview to @repubblica on the state of the game with Russia-Ukraine.
Radchenko: “L’Italia sottovaluta i rischi della guerra ibrida concessi troppi visti ai russi” - la Repubblica repubblica.it/politica/2026/…
Grateful to @Tsahkna for a fascinating conversation. The @HooverInst Russo-Ukrainian War Oral History Project aims to document senior policy-makers' views on the key turning points of the war. The interviews will eventually be deposited at the @HooverInst Library and Archive.
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has reshaped European security and put countering Russian aggression at the centre of Estonia’s foreign policy.
I was glad to welcome @DrRadchenko and Peter Sies in Tallinn today and share Estonia’s perspective for their @HooverInst at Stanford University project documenting the war.
Now, here's a clever piece on a niche subject: engelsbergideas.com/essays/k….
On the eve of my visit to the Baltics for interviews for the Hoover/Stanford Russia-Ukraine project, reading this fantastic book by @olivernmoody: amazon.co.uk/Baltic-Future-E….
He is not wrong. The best-case scenario for Putin would be to be handed over to The Hague. For protection. They don't hang people there. And the court case would make for a wonderful oral history. I am just fantasizing of course. The historian must have her sources.
It's from this article in the Economist if anyone wonders. economist.com/europe/2026/08…
Putin invading the Baltics is like a man who bites off more than he can chew only to open his mouth to bite some more. Seems incredibly stupid. But Putin is famous for stupid.
A slap in the face for Ratcliffe if he didn't even see Putin: bbc.com/news/articles/c0klj7…. I wonder if, like Bill Burns, he got to talk to him on the phone. The optics matter with these things, and the optics aren't good for Ratcliffe whatever the subject of the conversation.
