They-and not the regime-are Russia’s future. More Russians are rejecting the Kremlin’s corruption and authoritarianism in favor of democracy.

“Putin Is Not Russia” (October 2017) - FREE But one-man rule may yield long-term instability. Putin promises to preserve a socially conservative, populist status quo. Lacking any ideas for shoring up Russian society, Putin has settled on picking a fight with Ukraine. “Russia’s Ukraine Obsession” (January 2020) - Free on Project MUSE Thirty years after the Soviet Union collapsed, Russia is firmly in the grip of an autocrat. “Russia’s Road to Autocracy” (October 2021) - Free

Following are 7 essential reads on the origins of the conflict, and what brought us to this dangerous moment. The Journal of Democracy has been covering the roots of Putin’s obsession with Ukraine for nearly 20 years. “Just as Putin cannot allow the will of the Russian people to guide Russia’s future, he cannot allow the people of Ukraine…to choose the prosperous, independent, and free future that they have voted for and fought for,” argue Robert Person and Michael McFaul in the Journal of Democracy. What led Russia’s autocrat to unjustly attack neighboring Ukraine? Vladimir Putin launched the largest military invasion in Europe since World War II last week. He’s terrified of a flourishing Ukrainian democracy. Russia’s autocrat doesn’t worry about NATO.

Ukraine 2020 war