Registration REQUIRED by 4pm on January 27, 2026 in order to attend this event.
Please join the Harriman Institute for a book talk by Mikhail Zygar. Victoria Nuland will serve as the discussant of this session, which will be moderated by Elise Giuliano.
From “one of Russia’s smartest and best-sourced” (The New York Times) reporters comes a gripping and urgent exploration of why the Soviet Union’s collapse was incomplete and the Cold War was never over—revealing the resurgence of imperialism in Russia and its current implications for the war in Ukraine.
Russian-born journalist Mikhail Zygar was ten years old when the Soviet Union collapsed. Now, after nearly ten years of research, he offers a timely and compelling new approach on Russian history—one that rewrites everything we thought we knew about the fall of the Soviet Union—and argues that its ending is yet to come. Starting with the historic launch of the first human into space in April 1961, Zygar unravels a dramatic story of resistance, resilience, and resurgence that led to the Soviet Union’s dissolution—and the echoes of its legacy today.
Zygar conducted several hundred exclusive interviews with key figures, including Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, first presidents of the independent post-Soviet republics, the last first secretaries of these republics, and leaders of independence movements within them, as well as Western politicians and diplomats who were witnesses to and participants in those events. He dives into the struggles and triumphs of figures like Andrei Sakharov, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, and Vladimir Vysotsky, whose defiance of totalitarianism is both inspiring and deeply relevant. Zygar explains how the “victory” over the Soviet Empire may have been short-lived, as today’s Russian regime maintains its imperial ambitions.
A must-read for anyone looking to understand the origins of modern Russian fascism, “The Dark Side of the Earth” explores how imperial and nationalist ideas developed during the Soviet era and eventually gave rise to the current Putinist ideology. Zygar’s work is uniquely powerful—fueled by his personal ties to the Soviet era, access to historical archives, and interviews that crack open hidden truths, including several with individuals who had never before spoken on the record.
More than a history lesson, “The Dark Side of the Earth” is a call to action and a testament to the enduring fight for truth and freedom. Zygar urges us to confront the narratives we’ve accepted and rethink how we face oppression today. Bold, brilliant, and deeply human, this is a story that demands to be heard.
Mikhail Zygar is a journalist, writer, and filmmaker, and the founding editor-in-chief of Russian news channel Dozhd, which provided an alternative to Kremlin-controlled federal TV channels by giving a platform to opposition voices. The recipient of an International Press Freedom Award, Zygar writes a weekly column on Russia and the war for DerSpiegel and also writes for the New York Times, Time Magazine, Vanity Fair, and Foreign Affairs. He is also the author of “All the Kremlin’s Men,” “The Empire Must Die,” and “War and Punishment.” Currently a guest lecturer at Columbia University, he lives in New York with his husband.
Ambassador Victoria Nuland is Shelby Cullom Davis Professor in the Practice of International Diplomacy and Director of the International Fellows Program at SIPA. She is also affiliated with SIPA’s Institute for Global Politics and the Harriman Institute, and is Member of the Board of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). A U.S. diplomat for 35 years, she served six U.S. Presidents and 10 Secretaries of State of both political parties and holds the rank of Career Ambassador. She was Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs from April 2021 until March 2024, and served concurrently as Acting Deputy Secretary of State from July 2023 until March 2024. Prior to that, Nuland was Senior Counselor at the Albright Stonebridge Group, a global strategic advisory and commercial diplomacy firm based in Washington, DC. She was also a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, Distinguished Practitioner in Grand Strategy at Yale University, and a NED board member.
Please email disability@columbia.edu to request disability accommodations. Advance notice is necessary to arrange for some accessibility needs.
