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Expert Bio
Stephen Sestanovich is the George F. Kennan senior fellow for Russian and Eurasian studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis professor of international diplomacy at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. He is the author of Maximalist: America in the World from Truman to Obama, published by Knopf in February 2014.
From 1997 to 2001, Sestanovich was the U.S. State Department's ambassador-at-large for the former Soviet Union. He has also served as vice president for Russian and Eurasian affairs at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, director of Soviet and East European studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, senior director for policy development at the National Security Council, a member of the State Department’s policy planning staff, and legislative assistant to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
Ambassador Sestanovich received his BA summa cum laude from Cornell University and his PhD from Harvard University. He comments frequently on international issues for radio and television, and has written for Foreign Affairs, New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, American Interest, New Republic, Politico Magazine, National Interest, and other publications. He is a member of the board of directors of the National Endowment for Democracy.
Affiliations:
- School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, Kathryn & Shelby Cullom Davis professor of international diplomacy
Current Projects
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Numerous competing theories are likely to surface about the demise of the Russian paramilitary commander—all of which help explain Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
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NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
NATO will strengthen its partnership with Ukraine at its upcoming Vilnius summit, but the failed coup in Russia could add to divisions over membership. -
Ukraine remains intent on wresting Crimea back from Russia, but doing so would be difficult, and the peninsula could become a bargaining chip in future diplomatic talks.
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Governments most directly affected by Russia’s war on Ukraine all worry about sustaining domestic support for their policies. One year in, however, they have managed this problem with surprising success.
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The evolving views of hard-liners within Russia’s paramilitary, media, and national security establishments offer important clues as to the direction Putin will take the war in Ukraine.
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Ukraine has rejected recent calls by the West for it to settle its war with Russia. Ukrainian leaders believe they have a chance to reclaim territory lost in the early fighting—and that they can do so before serious negotiations begin.
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As the world anticipates Russia’s next move in Ukraine, one of Vladimir Putin’s top advisors has laid out how Moscow sees the future of its struggle against the West.
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U.S. officials have preserved NATO unity in the face of Russian military threats, but they have not yet defined a clear negotiating agenda—or put Moscow on the rhetorical defensive.
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Putin and Gazprom didn’t create Europe’s new gas crisis, but they are happy to exploit it.
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U.S.-Russia bilateral relations have fallen to a new low, with Ukraine, Belarus, cyberattacks, and nuclear weapons among the biggest disagreements. What’s the best way to judge this summit’s success?
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The Putin regime remains strong, but nationwide protests in support of Alexei Navalny are the most serious challenge to it in years.
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Azerbaijan’s success in the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh means Putin’s peace deal is likely to last. It also rules out further diplomacy.
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Vladimir Putin is no fan of democracy movements in Russia’s neighborhood, but trying to turn off the protests in Belarus will be risky.
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Russians have voted on a sweeping package of more than two hundred constitutional amendments, the most important of which exempts President Vladimir Putin from term limits and potentially allows him to rule until 2036. What does this change mean for the country’s future?
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As Putin tries to manage Russia’s coronavirus outbreak, the national security bureaucracy faces challenges and opportunities of its own.
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President Putin’s sweeping moves to shift government power reinforce his own claim to leadership beyond 2024, but also set in motion competition for influence throughout Russia.
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U.S. military and economic support for Ukraine has so far weathered the widening impeachment inquiry into President Trump’s contacts with Kyiv. This backing could strengthen Ukraine in the next round of diplomacy with Russia.
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Ukraine’s presidential campaign—the first since the upheavals of 2014—is drawing to a close, and the most improbable of candidates has taken the lead. Could he really become the country’s next president?
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A move to block sanctions relief has been defeated, averting a likely spike in global aluminum prices but also spotlighting the tough road ahead for Congress in shaping policy on Russia.
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The United States and Russia are at odds on so many issues that the upcoming summit could convince their two presidents to give up on better relations and accept estrangement.
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Even calculating for the rising threat from China, leaving the INF puts the United States in a worse strategic position than if it were to stay in.
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Presidents Trump and Putin have little to show for their rapport so far. Their summit will not be seen as a success without fresh approaches to issues from arms control to election tampering.
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If the President wants to use an arms build-up to advance arms control, he should take his cues from the Reagan record.
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Nonproliferation, Arms Control, and Disarmament
The 1986 meeting in Iceland between U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was like none other. It offers helpful context for a potential U.S.-North Korea arms control summit.