Brigadier General (ret.) Peter Zwack
Russia’s War in Ukraine: Insights from Brigadier General Peter Zwack
Thursday, November 17, 2022 | 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM
On February 24, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the largest conventional military attack in Europe since World War II against Ukraine. It has been almost 9 months and following the initial gains, the war is no longer going well for Russia. What is the current military situation on the ground? How has the war impacted Putin’s hold on power? What can we learn about Russia from its military performance? What is the outlook for arms control in the current diplomatic environment? Please join us on Thursday, November 17th at 6.30 PM for an IN-PERSON conversation with Brigadier General (Ret.) Peter B. Zwack, Wilson Center Global Fellow at the Kennan Institute & Former U.S. Senior Defense Official and Attaché to the Russian Federation, where we will explore these questions and also discuss his new book “Swimming the Volga: A U.S. Army Officer’s Experiences in Pre-Putin Russia.”
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SPEAKER:
From 2012 – 2014, BG (r) Peter Zwack served as the United States Senior Defense Official and Attache to the Russian Federation. By interacting with Russians at multiple levels since 1989, including defense, security, academia, policy, veterans, & private citizens, BG Zwack developed a unique hands-on perspective on Russia and Eurasian security affairs during a turbulent period that included the recent strife in Crimea & Eastern Ukraine. Thanks to Glasnost he first studied in the Soviet city of Kalinin (renamed Tver) as a young U.S. Army Captain in the summer of 1989
BG Zwack enlisted in the US Army in 1980 and received his commission via Officer Candidate School (OCS) at Fort Benning, Georgia. He subsequently served 34 years as a Military Intelligence and Eurasian Foreign Area Officer serving in diverse and challenging duty locations including West Germany, South Korea, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Russia. He has commanded thousands of soldiers at Company, Battalion and Brigade level and was the Army intelligence chief in Europe (2006-8) and Afghanistan (2008-2009). He has a Masters degree in National Security Studies from the Naval War College and a second Masters, in Strategic Intelligence, from the Defense Intelligence College in Washington DC.
Inducted into the OCS Hall of Fame in 2015, BG Zwack is a recipient of the Bronze Star, Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Defense Superior Service Medal, and many other awards and citations including the Afghan Service Medal and NATO/Kosovo Medal. He was also honored as the Joint Chief’s of Staff “Action Officer of the Year” for 1999. He proudly wore the Ranger Tab and Airborne Wings.
Recently retired, he is now the Senior Russia-Eurasia Fellow at the Institute of National Strategic Studies, National Defense University, in Washington DC, as well as an Adjunct Fellow at the Pell Center, Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island. As such, he regularly consults, writes and lectures within the interagency, defense department, think tanks, and academic institutions on contemporary Russian and Eurasian security issues, and leadership lessons learned.
He lives with his dear wife Stephanie in Newport, R.I. and commutes to Washington DC for his research work. He has three children, Broghan (graduated from Brown University in May – Economics), Peter Jr (Sophomore at University of Denver, ROTC scholarship), and Alessandra (Sophomore at Pomfret School).
BG Zwack speaks Russian, German, Italian, and some French.
About “Swimming the Volga: A U.S. Army Officer’s Experiences in Pre-Putin Russia.”
Swimming the Volga is a personal eyewitness account of day-to-day life in a provincial Russian city during a remarkable period in world history just before the dissolution of the Soviet Union and before the names Putin and Russia became inseparable.
Written in the days just before the names Putin and Russia became inseparable, Brigadier General Peter B. Zwack (Ret)’s Swimming the Volga is a unique time capsule of a remarkable period in world history. The final chapter of the Cold War ended with the hijacking of Russia’s future by rapacious financiers, pyramid schemes, and a new criminal element setting the stage for Putin’s arrival, and with it, a more assertive and revanchist Russia. Along the way, the cast of memorable characters in the story reveals their very human dreams, ambitions, fears, missteps, cynicism, resilience, and disillusionment.
What will make Swimming the Volga stand out in the marketplace is the author, who lived and experienced Russian culture firsthand. His many accomplished years of high-ranking military authority, extensive knowledge and grasp of the language and culture, and brilliance as an educator, speaker, and writer. Former Attaché to the Russian Federation, Zwack is a current Global Fellow at The Kennan Institute for Advanced Russia Studies at The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. No one is more qualified to write and speak on this subject than him.
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