A Matter of Defense: Russia's Arms Industry, Post-Soviet Wars, and American Pragmatism

The Slavic Connexion

On this episode, Misha talks with Ruslan Pukhov, a Russian defense analyst and the director of the Moscow-based Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies (CAST). Mr. Pukhov shares about the origins of CAST during the late 90s, the state of Russia's defense economy, and his views on the current war in Ukraine. He states that neither the Ukrainian public nor Ukrainian leadership and elites understand what "victory" means in terms of a realistic approach and that continued American support, strongly dependent upon the upcoming US presidential elections in his view, is critical to Ukraine's prospects in this war.

EPISODE NOTES:

1. The journalist Mr. Pukhov mentions is Yuri Lyamin. The link to his blog the Imperial Navigator, where his latest pieces analyze Hamas propaganda following the recent eruption of hostilities between Iran-backed Hamas and Israel: https://imp-navigator.livejournal.com/.
2. Select articles from a variety of sources that include commentary from the demographer Alexey Raksha: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-10-20/rogue-demographer-says-russia-covid-deaths-may-be-europe-s-worst https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-10-18/putin-s-war-escalation-is-hastening-demographic-crash-for-russia https://fortune.com/2022/10/18/russia-population-historic-decline-emigration-war-plunging-birth-rate-form-perfect-storm/ https://www.economist.com/europe/2023/03/04/russias-population-nightmare-is-going-to-get-even-worse https://theweek.com/russia/1017914/russias-catastrophic-missing-men-problem https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/conflict-deepens-russias-demographic-crisis
3. For a list of pieces by Mr. Pukhov as written for The Moscow Times visit https://www.themoscowtimes.com/author/ruslan-pukhov

PRODUCER'S NOTE: This episode was recorded on October 1, 2023 via Zoom. The views expressed in this episode belong to the speakers and do not reflect those of either the Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies or the William P. Clements, Jr. Center for National Security at The University of Texas at Austin.

If you have questions, comments, or would like to be a guest on the show, please email [e-mail] and we will be in touch!

CREDITS
Associate Producer: Misha Simanovskyy (@MSimanovskyy)
Associate Producer: Cullan Bendig (@cullanwithana)
Associate Producer: Sergio Glajar
Production Assistant: Faith VanVleet
Production Assistant: Eliza Fisher
Supervising Producer: Nicholas Pierce
SlavX Editorial Director: Sam Parrish
Recording, Editing, and Sound Design: Michelle Daniel

Music Producer: Charlie Harper (@charlieharpermusic) www.charlieharpermusic.com (Main Theme by Charlie Harper and additional background music by Beat Mekanik, Broke For Free, KAZKA)

Executive Producer & Creator: Michelle Daniel (@M_S_Daniel) www.msdaniel.com

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Special Guest: Ruslan Pukhov.