Ellison Center Director Scott Radnitz presents his lecture "Revealing Schemes: The Politics of Conspiracy in Russia and the Post-Soviet Region" on January 13, 2022.

The lecture presents Radnitz's book by the same title, and is moderated by Jacqueline Miller, World Affairs Council of Seattle President and CEO, with Discussant Paul Stronski from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

This lecture is part of the Ellison Center's 2021-22 Lecture Series, "Scheming and Subversion: Conspiracy in Post-Soviet Space." More information can be found at bit.ly/EllisonTalks2022

Scott Radnitz is the Herbert J. Ellison Associate Professor of Russian and Eurasian Studies in the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington. His research deals primarily with the post-Soviet region and topics such as protests, authoritarianism, informal networks, and identity. His work employs surveys, focus groups, and experimental methodologies.

His forthcoming book is “Enemies Within: The Global Politics of Fifth Columns,” edited with Harris Mylonas (GWU), and is under contract with Oxford University Press. His most recent book, “Revealing Schemes: The Politics of Conspiracy in Russia and the Post-Soviet Region” came out with Oxford University Press in 2021. It investigates why politicians in the region promote conspiratorial claims and what effects that has. His first book, “Weapons of the Wealthy: Predatory Regimes and Elite-Led Protests in Central Asia,” was published by Cornell University Press in 2010.

Articles have appeared in journals including Comparative Politics, Comparative Political Studies, British Journal of Political Science, Journal of Democracy, Political Geography, Political Communication, and Post-Soviet Affairs. Policy commentary has appeared in Foreign Policy, The National Interest, The Guardian, Slate, and the Monkey Cage/Washington Post blog.

He is an associate editor of Communist and Post-Communist Studies, a faculty member at UW’s Center for an Informed Public, and a member of the Program on New Approaches to Research and Security (PONARS) in Eurasia. He teaches the following courses: States, Markets, and Societies; Contemporary Central Asian Politics; Post-Soviet Security; Interdisciplinary Survey of Eurasia; Failed States; Research Design and Methods; and Social Movements and Revolutions.

This lecture is hosted by the Ellison Center for Russian, East European, and Central Asian Studies at the University of Washington, Seattle.