The Growth of Russian Influence In Africa

With Chris Miller, Assistant Professor of International History at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University

From its multi-billion nuclear energy deal with Egypt to its military intervention in the Central African Republic, Russia is back as a great power in Africa. Join FPRI’s Ambassador Charles A. Ray, as he moderates a conversation between the Director of FPRI’s Eurasia Program Chris Miller and author Samuel Ramani about the history, success, and current drivers of Russia’s growing influence in Africa. They will also assess its implications for the incoming Joe Biden administration. The panel will consider if Russia ever really left Africa following the fall of the Soviet Union, how successful Russia has been at reasserting its influence in Africa, and answer your questions about the growth of Russian Influence in Africa.

Samuel Ramani is a final year DPhil candidate at the University of Oxford’s Department of Politics and International Relations. Based out of St. Antony’s College, Samuel’s research focuses on post-1991 Russian foreign and security policy. He is a regular contributor to media outlets, such as Foreign Policy and the Washington Post Monkey Cage, think tanks, such as the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, FPRI, RUSI and the Middle East Institute, and broadcast media stations, such as Al Jazeera English and the BBC World Service. He is currently writing a book on Russia’s foreign and security policy towards Africa since 1985, which will be published by Oxford University Press and Hurst and Co. next year.

Chris Miller is the Director of the Foreign Policy Research Institute’s Eurasia Program. He is also Assistant Professor of International History at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. His research examines Russian politics, foreign policy, and economics. His most recent book is Putinomics: Power and Money in Resurgent Russia which has been reviewed in publications such as The Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, The National Interest and the Times Literary Supplement.

Charles A. Ray, Moderator, served as U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Cambodia and the Republic of Zimbabwe. In addition, he was the first U.S. Consul General to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, opening the Consulate General there in 1998. Ambassador Ray is a Trustee of the Foreign Policy Research Institute and the Chair of the Africa Program. He is also currently a member of the board of directors of the American Academy of Diplomacy, communications director for the Association of Black American Ambassadors, chair of the Una Chapman Cox Foundation Advisory Council, and a member of the board of the Cold War Museum.

This piece was republished from the Foreign Policy Research Institute.