On Thursday, May 5, the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation and National Review Institute hosted on online event to examine how Putin’s war crimes in Ukraine are following the Soviet model of warfare.
The conversation focused on the history of the Russian way of war and a current view of the Russian’s war on Ukraine. Panelists explored Russia’s history of war crimes in modern conflict and shared thoughts on how the US and West can make a meaningful impact on this conflict.
Speakers
Introductions:
Lindsay Young Craig is the President of National Review Institute, the non-profit William F. Buckley Jr. founded in 1991 to complement the efforts of National Review magazine and promote the ideals of a free society he championed. Under Lindsay’s leadership, NRI has established sound fiscal footing, even as NRI has become the parent company for NR, Inc., significantly expanded and enhanced its existing programs while establishing new ones, and broadened its partnerships with policy organizations and policymakers across the country. She remains active in the broader conservative movement, organizing events, serving on advisory boards, and speaking at conferences. Lindsay serves on the Board of Trustees for The Fund for American Studies and on the Board of Advisors for Young Voices.Prior to joining NRI in August of 2013, Lindsay spent 16 years at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, one of the country’s leading domestic-policy think tanks. As vice president of communications and marketing, she oversaw the development of the public-relations department, social-media and web development, and strategic marketing. In addition to her communications department duties, Lindsay spearheaded numerous other Manhattan Institute projects—leading special initiatives such as launching the Young Leaders Circle, organizing major conferences, and overseeing MI’s internship program.A Connecticut native, Lindsay lived in New York City for over 30 years, after she moved there to study photography and graphic design at School of Visual Arts with a focus on political art. She graduated from New York University with a B.A. in Politics.
Dr. Lee Edwards is Co-Founder and Chairman Emeritus of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation and Founding Chairman of the Victims of Communism Museum. He is Distinguished Fellow in Conservative Thought at the B. Kenneth Simon Center for American Studies at the Heritage Foundation, and an adjunct professor of politics at the Catholic University of America. Edwards is a leading historian of American conservatism and author or editor of over 25 books, including biographies of President Ronald Reagan, Senator Barry Goldwater, Attorney General Edwin Meese III, and William F. Buckley. He was the founding director of the Institute of Political Journalism at Georgetown University and a fellow at the Institute of Politics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and has also served as President of the Philadelphia Society and been a media fellow at the Hoover Institution. His awards and honors include the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary, the Millennium Star of Lithuania, the Cross of Terra Mariana of Estonia, the Friendship Medal of Diplomacy from the Republic of China (Taiwan), the John Ashbrook Award, the Reed Irvine Accuracy in Media Award, Legend of YAF from Young America’s Foundation, and the Walter Judd Freedom Award. Edwards holds a Ph.D. in world politics from Catholic University and a Doctor of Humane Letters from Grove City College. He did graduate work at the Sorbonne and holds a B.A. in English from Duke University.
Panelists:
Ken Pope is the Director of Academic Programs at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation. Previously he had a 34 year career in the U.S. Army, consulting industry and academia. While in uniform, he served in a variety of Armored Reconnaissance, Special Operations and Russian Foreign Area Officer (FAO) assignments in Europe, the Middle East, and Central America. He commanded an Armored Cavalry Troop during the Persian Gulf War and a Special Operations unit focused on Central America. Ken had over 12 years of operational fieldwork as an Army FAO with a focus on Russia and the Caucasus, Eastern Europe, and security issues with a variety of assignments in Russia, Ukraine, Estonia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Kosovo. In the consulting industry, he led teams that provided strategy, planning, analysis and wargaming support to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Joint Staff, and Combatant Commands. Ken also served as an Assistant Professor at the Center for Intelligence and Security Studies at the University of Mississippi where he taught courses on intelligence, advanced analytics, senior capstone program and led the center’s national security simulations. He has a B.A. in Sociology, a M.A. in International Relations and is a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and Staff College and the George C. Marshall Center’s Executive Program for Advanced Security Studies. He speaks Russian.
Dr. Elizabeth Edwards Spalding is Vice Chairman of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOC), Founding Director of the Victims of Communism Museum, and Senior Fellow at the Pepperdine University School of Public Policy. A frequent lecturer on U.S. foreign policy, the presidency, communism, and the Cold War, she is also a core faculty member in VOC’s National Seminar for Middle and High School Educators. She is the author of The First Cold Warrior: Harry Truman, Containment, and the Remaking of Liberal Internationalism and the co-author of A Brief History of the Cold War. Spalding holds a Ph.D. and an M.A. in international politics and political theory from the University of Virginia and a B.A. in political science from Hillsdale College and has taught at Pepperdine University, Hillsdale College, Claremont McKenna College, George Mason University, and Catholic University of America.
Moderated by:
Jay Nordlinger is a senior editor of National Review and a fellow at National Review Institute. He writes about a variety of subjects, including politics, foreign affairs, and the arts. He is the music critic of The New Criterion. Since 2002, he has hosted a series of public interviews at the Salzburg Festival. He writes a column called “Impromptus” for NationalReview.com and is the host of two podcasts: “Q&A” and “Music for a While.” In 2011, he filmed “The Human Parade, with Jay Nordlinger,” a TV series bringing hour-long interviews with various personalities. He is the author of two books: Peace, They Say: A History of the Nobel Peace Prize (Encounter Books, March 2012) and Children of Monsters: An Inquiry into the Sons and Daughters of Dictators (Encounter Books, September 2015). His journalism has been collected in two books: Here, There & Everywhere (National Review Books, January 2007) and Digging In (National Review Books, December 2016). A native Michigander, Nordlinger lives in New York.
