On January 14, an event co-sponsored by the Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies (CERES), the School of Foreign Service, and the Renew Democracy Initiative brought together Russian dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza and SFS Adjunct Professor Jill Dougherty for a conversation on Russia under Vladimir Putin’s rule.
As the Renew Democracy Initiative’s Dissident-in-Residence at Georgetown University, Kara-Murza reflected on Russia’s post-1991 political trajectory, drawing on his own experience as a leading opposition figure. A Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist, Kara-Murza was twice poisoned by Russia’s security services and later imprisoned in a maximum-security Siberian penal colony for his outspoken opposition to the invasion of Ukraine.
Jill Dougherty, CERES adjunct professor, former CNN Moscow bureau chief, and current CNN on-air contributor on Russian affairs, will interview Kara-Murza about Russia’s trajectory and his remarkable experiences as a modern-day dissident.
Watch the event recording here.
About the Speaker
Vladimir Kara-Murza is a Russian politician, author, historian, documentary filmmaker, and former political prisoner. A close colleague of the slain opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, he served as deputy leader of the People’s Freedom Party and was a candidate for the Russian Parliament. Leading diplomatic efforts on behalf of the opposition, Kara-Murza played a key role in the adoption of Magnitsky sanctions against top Russian officials by the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, Canada, and Australia.
In April 2022, Kara-Murza was arrested in Moscow for publicly denouncing the invasion of Ukraine and war crimes committed by Russian forces. He was released in August 2024 as part of the largest East-West prisoner exchange since the Cold War negotiated by the U.S. and German governments.
Kara-Murza is a contributing writer at The Washington Post, winning the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for his columns written from prison, and has previously worked for Echo of Moscow, BBC, RTVi, Kommersant, World Affairs, and other media organizations. Kara-Murza serves as vice-president at the Free Russia Foundation, as senior advisor at Human Rights First, and as senior fellow at the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights. He was the founding chairman of the Boris Nemtsov Foundation for Freedom and has led successful international efforts to commemorate Nemtsov, including with street designations in Washington, DC and London.
About the Moderator
Jill Dougherty is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University’s Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies, a Global Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC, and a member of the Wilson Center’s Kennan Institute Advisory Council. She has pursued research on Russia and the media as a fellow at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, at the Wilson Center, and at the International Centre for Defence and Security in Tallinn, Estonia.
Jill Dougherty served as CNN correspondent for three decades. Her area of expertise is Russia and the post-Soviet region. She served as CNN’s Moscow Bureau Chief for almost a decade.
This event was co-sponsored by the Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies (CERES), the School of Foreign Service and the Renew Democracy Initiative.