DIIS event

Russia's quest for influence in Africa after the 2022 Ukraine invasion

Name: Russia's quest for influence in Africa after the 2022 Ukraine invasion
Location: Russia's quest for influence in Africa after the 2022 Ukraine invasion

Why and how is Russia expanding its influence in Africa after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine? And (in what way) has Russia been able to transform its influence into impact on African states' voting behaviour in the UN General Assembly. Those are some of the questions we will address at this seminar.

Why Russia seeks to expand its influence in Africa – and what it means for the West report illustration

Illustration © Cecilie Castor

Watch the recording of the seminar here

In the wake of Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, many commentators expected that Moscow would scale back its activities in Africa to divert resources to the ongoing war effort. Thus far, however, this has not happened. Quite the opposite: Russia has continued and, in some regards, ramped up its activities on the continent. Western government officials and analysts view this development with growing unease and concern.

This event aims to provide decisionmakers, practitioners, interested members of the public, and academics with in-depth insights about Russia's Africa policy since its 2022 Ukraine invasion.

Speakers

Jonas Gejl Kaas, Assistant Professor, Royal Danish Defence College
Elias Götz, Associate Professor, Royal Danish Defence College
Karen Philippa Larsen, PhD Candidate, Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Suzanne Graham, Associate Professor, University of Johannesburg

Programme

14.00-14.10 Introduction
14.10-14.30 Russia’s quest for influence in Africa after the 2022 Ukraine invasion: instruments, causes, and consequences, Jonas Gejl Kaas & Elias Götz
14.30-14.45 African voting behaviour in the UN system, Suzanne Graham (via ZOOM)
14.45-15.00 Russia's use of PMCs in Africa after the invasion of Ukraine, Karen Philippa Larsen
15.00-15.30 Q&A