Perspectives and Insights of Russia Over a 35-Year Military Career

This seminar will present a wide-ranging perspective from a career US Army officer and Russian specialist on the USSR-Russia dating back to the early 1980s. The discussion will be wide-ranging from personal hands-on insights on the Cold War, through “Glasnost” and the Reagan-Gorbachev opening, the fall of the Berlin Wall and collapse of the USSR. It will then move through Russia’s failed flirtation with a democratic free market under Boris Yeltsin, up to the advent of the authoritarian Vladimir Putin in 2000 and the subsequent tensioning of relations between a resurgent Russia with the US and more free-minded world. Throughout this period, Brigadier General Zwack will recount his very personal experiences on the ground during this period of which he authored his mini-memoir of pre-Putin Russia “Swimming the Volga.” Finally, he will provide insights on the current difficult situation involving the war with Ukraine and increased tensions around Russia’s vast periphery with NATO, the Caucasus and relations with China, as well as heightening rhetoric and posturing regarding nuclear weapons. Laced with maps and pictures, this brief will provide a comprehensive survey of today’s Russia and its challenges.

Brigadier General Peter B. Zwack (Ret.) served as the United States senior defense official and attaché to the Russian Federation during the challenging years of 2012-2014. This period included Russia’s first invasion of Ukraine and its illegal annexation of Crimea. He also served in West Germany, Kosovo, South Korea and Afghanistan. During that period, he became the G2 (senior intelligence officer) of US Army Europe, G2 US Forces Afghanistan, CJ2 of Kosovo Force, G3 Army Cyber Command, ops chief for NGA, commanded the 66th Military Intelligence Group and, in 1999, he was honored as Joint Staff “Action Officer of the Year” (J5 NATO Policy). He graduated in 2003 as a Mahan Scholar from the Naval War College. Retired in 2015 after 35 years of military service, he remains active in academia and media.