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Tina Burrett book talk: Television and Presidential Power in Putin's Russia

Date: Thursday, March 10, 2011
Time: 7:00p.m. (Talk will start at 7:30p.m.)
Venue: Temple University, Japan Campus, Mita Hall
502/503
4-1-27, Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo (access:
www.tuj.ac.jp/maps)

Speaker: Tina Burrett
Moderator: Kazuhiko Togo
Admission: Free (Open to general public)
RSVP: icas@tuj.ac.jp
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Outline

When Vladimir Putin entered the Kremlin in March 2000, Russia was a collapsing state in economic crisis.
Regional leaders openly advocated separatist policies, nowhere more devastatingly than in Chechnya, which was again plunged into war. Living standards for the majority of Russians were in decline, while the politically-connected elite accumulated obscene levels of wealth. Putin promised Russia a new start, and during the 2000 election, captured hearts and minds-and consequently the presidency-with his pledge to re-establish order and the power of the state. More than a decade later, Putin remains at the apex of Russian politics. In her book 'Television and Presidential Power in Putin's Russia', Tina Burrett demonstrates how increased state control over national television has been instrumental in sustaining Putin's position of power. In her presentation, Tina will discuss the book, the current Russian media environment and the next round of Russian presidential elections in 2012. Will competition for the presidency between Medvedev and Putin reignite a degree of media pluralism in Russia?
Speaker

Tina Burrett is Assistant Professor of International Affairs at Temple University, Japan. Her research focuses on the politics of the former Soviet Union, with special reference to Russian domestic politics. She also works on comparative politics and transition theory. She has a keen interest in parliamentary politics and reform, and has worked in legislatures in Britain, Canada, Japan and the EU. Her op-eds regularly appear in the Japan Times, The New Internationalist and The New Statesman. She is a graduate of the University of Cambridge.

Moderator

Kazuhiko Togo runs the Global Affairs Institute at Kyoto Sangyo University. He joined the Foreign Ministry of Japan in 1968, worked extensively on Soviet/Russian affairs, as well as on Europe, America, international law and economics, and served as Ambassador of Japan to the Netherlands and retired in 2002. From 1995 he began teaching in universities in Moscow and Tokyo, and after retirement in Leiden, Princeton, Tansui (Taiwan), Santa Barbara, Seoul, and Temple University Japan Campus. His recent publication includes in English Japan's Foreign Policy 1945-2009 and in Japanese (1) The Inside Story of the Negotiations on the Northern Territories, (2) History and Foreign Policy: Yasukuni, Asia and Tokyo Tribunal and (3) What Japan lost after WWII: Scenery, Human Being and State.
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Robert Dujarric
Director
Kyle Cleveland
Associate Director
Eriko Kawaguchi
Coordinator