Putin’s War
Moderator: Peter Tesch • Mark Edele and Gorana Grgic
Humiliated, betrayed and anxious, Putin and his allies have retreated into a resentful ultra-nationalism. But dreams of past imperial glory stand in place of any attempt to solve the problems of the present.
In a Canberra Writers Festival exclusive, historian Mark Edele – a world authority on the history of the Soviet Union – will launch his incisive new book, Russia’s War Against Ukraine.
Presented in conjunction with Melbourne University Press
Artist
MARK EDELE is Hansen Professor in History and Deputy Dean in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Melbourne. He is the author of six books on the history of the Soviet Union, most recently Stalinism at War: The Soviet Union in World War II (2021). He has worked in archives in Russia, Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Germany and the United States. He teaches the histories of the Soviet Union, of World War II, and of dictatorship and democracy in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Artist
DR GORANA GRGIĆ is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Social and Political Sciences and the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. She is also an Expert Affiliate at the ANU National Security College. Gorana has been a Research Fellow at prestigious international institutions, including the Harvard Center for European Studies. She has been a regular political analyst for broadcasters such as ABC Australia and Bloomberg, and has contributed to a number of Australian and international media outlets and policy institutes.
Moderator
PETER TESCH retired from the Australian Public Service in August 2022 after more than 35 years in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and the Department of Defence, where he was Deputy Secretary, Strategy, Policy, and Industry. His DFAT roles included: Ambassador to the Russian Federation (2016-2019); Ambassador to Germany (2009-2013); Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations (2002-2005); Ambassador to Kazakhstan (1997-1999); and Third Secretary, Moscow (1989-1991).