Vladimir Pozner: How the United States Created Vladimir Putin

Caption notes

In this 2018 Yale lecture, journalist Vladimir Pozner starts with policy choices after the Soviet Union dissolved. He sees NATO enlargement as a turning point in the erosion of U.S.–Russian trust and argues that mainstream coverage in both countries deepened that distrust. In the Q&A, an audience member questions whether this account gives too little weight to the Russian leadership’s responsibility for foreign and domestic policy. Pozner replies that he is more sympathetic to some of Putin’s foreign policy positions and disagrees with much of his domestic policy. Another listener asks whether an approach like the Marshall Plan might have changed the outcome. Pozner thinks it might have been better and acknowledges that the scenario cannot be verified because it never happened. This guide presents the speaker’s 2018 interpretation and the challenges raised at the event.