While most AU students prepared for their spring break, a roomful turned out on March 4 to hear two experts debate whether Russia poses a threat to the world in the coming years.
The University Chaplain's office, which hosted the event, hosts similar "table-talk discussions" every few months, according to University Chaplain Joe Eldridge.
The panelists - Eric Lohr, a Russian history professor in AU's College of Arts and Sciences, and Svetlana Babaeva, the U.S. bureau chief for the Russian News and Information Agency - quickly established their differing views on Russia's intentions.
Lohr, who has made a career of studying Russian history, said the Russian Federation's current intentions seem primarily defensive.
"No matter how many times Americans and Europeans say NATO is not against Russia, it will never be perceived that way," he said.
Russia's recent actions can be viewed as counter moves against NATO, Lohr said.
"The war in Georgia was over NATO expansion," he said. "Likewise, Russia tried to use a few day cut-off of gas to Ukraine to express its displeasure [at Ukraine's moves towards NATO]," he said. "However, Russia needs Ukraine's pipelines to sell gas and oil to Europe ... so this strategy hasn't been overly effective."
Russia can't stop energy production too much because it will hinder its energy sales to Europe and beyond, Lohr said.
"Economic performance and anti-Western sentiment are all that's being used to prop up this regime," he said. "That's a dangerous combination."
Babaeva, a member of the Kremlin Press Corps, said she disagreed with many of Lohr's statements.
The Russian government views the U.S. and NATO in positive terms, she said.
"The Russian channels have been told not to broadcast the United States in a negative light," Babaeva said.
She said she disagreed with the characterization that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is merely a pawn of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
"There is an assertion that Putin is an authoritarian ruler - that is not true," she said. "Medvedev is still president. All international summits are still his. He will be the one meeting with President Obama."
Austin Barnum, a student in the Washington Semester program, said he enjoyed the discussion.
"I thought it was good," he said. "I liked that we had a historical perspective and a more modern perspective."
Kyle Linhares, a sophomore in the School of Public Affairs, said he thought the panel might have gotten carried away.
"I feel it was a little bit wide wide-ranging," he said. "I would have liked to see it a little more focused on how much of a threat the Russian Empire actually is."
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