Russian Opposition: Foundations of the Totalitarian State and Forces for Freedom

In this episode of Battlegrounds, H.R. McMaster and Vladimir Milov discuss the Russian opposition, the internal and external threats to Putin’s grip on power, and the impacts of Russia’s aggression on the world.

H.R. McMaster in conversation with Vladimir Milov on Wednesday, March 30, 2022 at 9:00am PT.


WATCH THIS EPISODE 


ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

battlegrounds_milov.jpg

Mr. Vladimir Milov is a Russian opposition politician, publicist, economist, and energy expert, and an economic adviser to the Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny. Mr. Milov has used to work with the Russian Government in late 1990s and early 2000s, serving as the Deputy Minister of Energy of Russia (2002), adviser to the Minister of Energy (2001-2002), and head of strategy department at the Federal Energy Commission, the natural monopoly regulator (1999-2001). Since leaving the Government, he became founder and President of the Institute of Energy Policy, a leading independent Russian energy policy think tank. Mr. Milov is one of the major public critics of Vladimir Putin in modern day Russia. Since 2017, Mr. Milov works as an economic adviser to Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny and hosts regular talk shows at the Navalny Live Youtube channel.

hrmcmaster100px.jpg

H. R. McMaster is the Fouad and Michelle Ajami Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University and the Japan Chair at the Hudson Institute. He is also the Bernard and Susan Liautaud Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute and lecturer at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. He was the 25th assistant to the president for National Security Affairs. Upon graduation from the United States Military Academy in 1984, McMaster served as a commissioned officer in the United States Army for thirty-four years before retiring as a Lieutenant General in June 2018.


Battlegrounds provides a needed forum with leaders from key countries to share their assessment of problem sets and opportunities that have implications for U.S. foreign policy and national security strategy. Each episode features H.R. McMaster in a one-on-one conversation with a senior foreign government leader to allow Americans and partners abroad to understand how the past produced the present and how we might work together to secure a peaceful and prosperous future. “Listening and learning from those who have deep knowledge of our most crucial challenges is the first step in crafting the policies we need to secure peace and prosperity for future generations.”

Battlegrounds banner

Cast

H.R. McMaster

H.R. McMaster

Related

Videos

Geheim!

Hoover Senior Fellow Russell Berman discusses the arrest list compiled by the Gestapo, the Nazi German secret police, in anticipation of a land invasion of Great Britain at the start of the Second World War.

September 17, 2026 • 0

Essays

China’s Anxieties In Latin America: What Mobility And Knowledge Mean For US Strategy

US strategy in Latin America concentrates on the visible assets of Chinese influence: ports, mines, and loans. Yet that influence depends on a human element, and Beijing remains anxious about both the mobility of its people into and through Latin America and the expertise needed to navigate the region. These are the dimensions it finds hardest to manage, and where the US holds advantages that are real but perishable. Converting them into leverage requires deliberate policy, not coercion.

September 15, 2026

Articles

Finding Targets In A Pacific War

America and its allies need to prepare ways to arrange targeting effectively and carefully.

September 14, 2026