Summary: <p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The Russian government is now routinely portrayed as a threat to the West, both on the international stage, in Ukraine and Syria, and in domestic politics, accused of interfering in elections.</span></p><br> <p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Russia is certainly back on the world stage and no longer prepared to accept Western-backed regime change, but to what extent does Russia represent a threat? Does Russia have legitimate interests that it is entitled to defend as much as Britain is? Is Putin simply playing a weak hand well? Does Russia loom large, not because it is relatively strong, but because Western governments themselves lack direction?</span></p><br> <p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">SPEAKERS</span></p><br> <p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Mary Dejevsky</span><br><span style="font-size: 12pt;">former foreign correspondent in Moscow, Paris and Washington; special correspondent in China; writer and broadcaster</span></p><br> <p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Dr Tara McCormack</span><br><span style="font-size: 12pt;">lecturer, international politics, University of Leicester</span></p><br> <p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Dr Lukasz Pawlowski</span><br><span style="font-size: 12pt;">managing editor & columnist, Kultura Liberalna</span></p><br> <p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Sir Adam Thomson KCMG</span><br><span style="font-size: 12pt;">director, European Leadership Network</span></p>
