NIU political science professor Daniel Kempton held a lecture on the resurging power of Russia in the Holmes Student Center yesterday.

While American media coverage of Russian activities has been ousted by the coming election, declining economic state and hurricane warnings, Kempton talked about the increasing power of Russia and the significance it will play in the future for other countries.

“Russia is a resurgence country and we can’t do anything about that,” Kempton said. “It’s going to be a very big part of the future.”

Kempton explained the reason for Russia’s improvement and increase in power over the years has been a result of a number of things, such as Russia striking oil and becoming the principal supplier to Europe, and former president Vladimir Putin’s redirecting of more power to the government. Additional topics that were delved into were the rise and fall of federalism in Russia’s history, ethnic divides, terrorism in Russia and the arising opportunities and problems of a rebuilt Russia.

“[Europe and the U.S.] wanted and had worked with Russia in the past, but not as equals and we’re sort of paying for that today,” Kempton said.

Kempton also touched upon the Russian government’s hold and crackdown on the media, making it the country with the highest mortality rate for journalists.

The topic of the recent ongoing conflict between Russia and its former Soviet republic, Georgia, was brought up as well. Kempton said the conflict is a result of the Kosovo state’s independence last year which influenced and escalated the already existing conflict between Georgia and the states of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

For covering much history and foreign policy within an hour and a half, those who attended enjoyed the lecture.

“I found the presentation to be very insightful as it established the backdrop for not only changes in Russian federalism but the overall how and why of why Russia and western dynamics have shifted today,” said Nick Lowery, a senior political science major.

Those in the DeKalb area also attended the lecture.

“He did a wonderful job and he summarized and clarified a lot about the [Russian] foreign policy and so I enjoyed it very much; glad I came,” said Allan Wantroba, a retired teacher and self-proclaimed lifelong student who has been affiliated with NIU since 1958.

“He’s very, very knowledgeable and he’s very good at clarifying what’s going on in the [former] Soviet Union and I think a lot of Americans just don’t understand the system very well and how it’s changed over the last 10 years,” said Stephanie Breed, a retired high school English teacher.

Professor Daniel Kempton is a political science professor and is the former chair of the Department of Political Science at NIU. He specializes in Russian politics, Russian foreign policy, missile proliferation and global terrorism. He is currently writing a book on federalism in Russia during the Putin years.

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