We are pleased to continue the Distinguished Lecture Series, now in its 18th season. On Sunday, March 23, 2025 at 4:00 p.m., featured speaker James Hatt will present “Illusions and Delusions.”
Dr. James Hatt trained as an English lawyer who, having been recruited by the Foreign Service in London, went to the USSR in 1988. By 1991, Hatt was introduced to Vladimir Putin. A year later they had agreed on a number of joint ventures between Cable and Wireless (UK) and Putin-approved Russian partners.
Between 1992 and 2000, Hatt had befriended a number of the men who, today, constitute the Russian Security Council. Their views on the inevitability of military conflict with Ukraine; their animosity towards NATO and disregard for its members, excepting the US; a belief that the natural partner for Russia would be China; and a determination that the post-World War II order of power and institutions needed to be dismantled already were formed prior to Putin becoming President.
In his lecture, Hatt will discuss why both Europe and America have lost Russia to China, how Russian leadership regards its domestic and international position today, and why those opinions from the 1990s are, from both a Russian and Chinese perspective, doing exceeding well in 2023.
The Distinguished Lecture Series is organized and hosted by Dr. Jeremy Yudkin. Dr. Yudkin is a resident of the Berkshires and Professor of Music and Co-Director of the Center for Beethoven Research at Boston University. Every summer he presents the Lenox Library’s pre-concert lectures for the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Tanglewood season.