Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022 shocked the world. The night before the invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy went to bed believing a rumoured attack was another Russian ruse. The Russian media’s denigration of Ukraine’s government as a nest of neo-Nazi drug addicts in the pay of U.S. puppet masters was dismissed as the latest salvo in Vladimir Putin’s information war. But although Russia’s news media are part of Putin’s propaganda machine, traces of his regime’s true intentions can be read between the lines of Kremlin-sanctioned scripts. Among all the lies, Putin hides in plain sight.

This talk focuses on the changing framing of Russia’s main international allies and adversaries on state-backed television during Vladimir Putin’s quarter century in power. Changes in how other states are presented by Russia’s media provide a window into the shifting values and perceptions that underpin Moscow’s foreign policymaking. Since Russia invaded Ukraine, Putin has been widely characterised as a neo-imperialist, resentful of the U.S.-led world order and always hellbent on restoring Russia’s Soviet empire. But analysis of Russian news content from the early 2000s suggests this is an oversimplification, with Putin initially projecting himself as a moderniser willing to do business with the West. By analysing Russian news content in the context of domestic and international political developments, this talk draws out the confluence of events leading to Russia’s estrangement from the West, its alliance with China, and its war in Ukraine.

Speaker: 
Tina Burrett is Professor of Political Science at Sophia University, Tokyo. Her most recent book is Contemporary Prime Ministerial Leadership in Britain and Japan (2023 Palgrave). She is also author of Press Freedom in Contemporary Asia (Routledge with Jeff Kingston) and Television and Presidential Power in Putin’s Russia (Routledge). Her new book Putin’s Mirror: Russian Media and Foreign Relations will be published by Routledge in 2026.

Moderators:
Professor James Brown, Temple University Japan; Robert Dujarric, ICAS Co-director