As world governments struggle to define the principles and institutions that govern digital technologies, Russia is leading the global challenge to the United States’ digital dominance in this increasingly contentious debate. For the Kennan Institute for the annual James H. Billington Lecture, 2022-23 Billington Fellow Stanislav Budnitsky drew on archival materials, expert interviews, and cyber policy forum ethnography to illuminate how Russia’s great power ambitions and advancement of the multipolar world order have directed its cyber diplomacy.

The James H. Billington Fellowship was established in 2016 in tribute to the co-founder of the Kennan Institute, former Director of the Wilson Center, and former Librarian of Congress. Dr. Billington made enduring contributions to the field of Russian Studies, and in our nation’s ability to understand and maintain bridges of dialogue with the Russian people.