Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was intended to restore Moscow’s power and reshape the European security order. Instead, the war is increasingly exposing the limits of Russian strength. This talk examines how prolonged conflict is generating mounting economic, military, and geopolitical pressures on the Kremlin, while Ukraine and its partners continue to adapt in a sustained war of attrition. It also explores the weakening of Russia’s broader support networks and the strategic risks of premature negotiations that could reward aggression before Russia achieves its objectives militarily.
Who: Dr. Suzanne Loftus, Associate Professor, National War College
When: June 18, 2026 | Reception: 5:30pm | Presentation: 6:00pm
Where: Connecticut College. Ernst Conference Room, Blaustein Hall 1st Floor
Pre-speaker reception of crudities, cheese and crackers, water, seltzers, iced-tea.
A post-presentation dinner with the speaker is available to members. Menu for the dinner includes a Summer-night buffet of sandwiches, wraps, garden salad, pasta salad. Red and white wine. Cookies and sweets
About the Speaker:
Dr. Suzanne Loftus is Associate Professor of National Security Strategy at the National War College. She is also a Global Fellow and Member of the Advisory Council at the Kennan Institute. Prior to that, Suzanne worked as a professor at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Garmisch-Partenkirchen Germany. Suzanne specializes in post-Soviet studies, Russian foreign policy and identity, transatlantic security and great power competition. Her latest book, Russia, China and the West in the Post – Cold War Era: The Limits of Liberal Universalism (Palgrave, 2023), is an analysis of the inadvertent consequences of the pursuit of liberal hegemony as an American foreign policy in the post-Cold War years and the concomitant effects of the rise of civilizational states such as Russia and China on the international system.