Acadia University

Biography of Presenter: Dr. David Duke

David Duke came to Acadia from the University of Alberta on a short-term contract in 1999 and is still here, now serving as Dean of Arts. His home unit is History and Classics, where he was head of unit from 2021-2022 before moving to the dean's office, and he also teaches in Acadia's Environment and Sustainability Studies program, having served as its Coordinator from 2012 to 2018. Born near Liverpool, England, he emigrated to Canada in the early 1980s and lived in Alberta for eighteen years before "coming home" to Nova Scotia. His academic areas of expertise are the history of Russia and the USSR, the history of science, and environmental history, and he teaches in all these areas. He has also published in the fields of Central Asian politics and history, and in Canadian environmental history also. Prior to coming to Acadia he completed his Ph.D. at the University of Alberta, teaching there for a number of years, as well as teaching Canadian history in Minsk, the capital of the former Soviet republic of Belarus in the early 1990s.

Outline:

1. Introduction
   • Why leadership matters in shaping geopolitical outcomes.
2. Vladimir Putin
   • Biography: KGB background, rise through St. Petersburg politics.
   • Ascension to presidency (2000): Consolidation of power.
   • Control over oligarchs: Yukos affair and centralization.
   • Ideology: Eurasianism, Russian exceptionalism.
   • Strategic vision: Reintegrating former Soviet states under Russian influence.
   • Key decisions: Chechnya, Georgia (2008), Crimea (2014), Ukraine invasion (2022).
3. Volodymyr Zelensky
   • Background: From entertainer to political outsider.
   • Election in 2019: Anti-corruption platform.
   • Leadership during war: Communication strategy, mobilizing Western support.
   • Symbolism: Zelensky as a figure of resistance and national unity.
4. Other Actors
   • Joe Biden and the US position
   • UK PM Boris Johnson and the push for European engagement
   • EU leaders and their strategic goals
   • 2025 – the impact of Donald Trump’s foreign policy
5. Contrasting Leadership Styles
   • Authoritarian vs. democratic approaches.
   • Personal narratives shaping national strategies.
6. Key Takeaways
   • Putin’s long-term project vs. Zelensky’s wartime presidency.
   • How individual leadership intersects with historical and structural forces.