Russia is not resurrecting the Soviet empire.

Even before Russia's invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, Western pundits and politicians made absurd statements that we are witnessing Vladimir Putin's great plan to "revive the Soviet empire" or re-establish the pre-Soviet Russian empire. At the same time, in some sectors of the left's political discourse, "empire" appears to be a term that can only be applied to Western nations, primarily the United States.

What do we mean by "empire" and "imperialism" in the twenty-first century, and can these ideas help us understand the conflict in Ukraine, why it's happening, and where it's going? Professors Ronald Grigor Suny and Valerie A. Kivelson speak with TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez about their significant research into the history of Russia's prior empires and what that history can (and can't) tell us about Russia's war in Ukraine.