Mark Schrad, PhD
Professor of Political Science | College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Villanova University
- Villanova PA
Mark Schrad, PhD, is an expert on Russian/Ukrainian relations, the Cold War and prohibition history.
Media
Areas of Expertise
Biography
Dr. Schrad has published three books and has been included in numerous other books and peer-reviewed articles. In addition, The Washington Post, The Atlantic and Time Magazine, among other publications, have featured his commentaries and non-peer-reviewed pieces.
Education
University of Wisconsin - Madison
PhD
Political Science
2007
University of Wisconsin - Madison
MA
Political Science
2002
Georgetown University
MA
Russian and East European Studies
2001
University of Northern Iowa
BA
Political Science, Russian and East European Studies
1998
Select Media Appearances
Prigozhin's Fate a Warning Shot for Putin's Critics
The Hill
2023-08-24
Mark Schrad, a Russia expert and associate professor of political science at Villanova University, said debating the "strength" or "weakness" of Putin was a fool's errand, given how little outside observers actually know about dynamics within the Kremlin.
Russia Has a Vodka Addiction. So Does Vladimir Putin—but Not the Same Way.
Politico
2023-05-05
"As the Kremlin's war in Ukraine grinds disastrously onward, Putin has suddenly grown concerned about the 'high level of alcoholization of the population.' According to reporting by independent journalists at Meduza, Putin is worried that Russian officials have started drinking significantly more since the war started, including 'certain people from his inner circle.' As with the war itself, Putin has only himself to blame for Russia's vodka debacle."
It's Easy but Wrong to Be Cynical About Putin's Indictment
Foreign Policy
2023-03-03
"Cynicism comes especially easy to international law, where the longest-running debates still parse whether or not international law and institutions even 'matter' in the first place... So, it is not surprising that the arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin on war crimes charges from the International Criminal Court (ICC) has been met with raised eyebrows."
Tsar Nicolas II Thought Vodka Was Hurting Russians—but Banning It Helped Destroy His Empire
Time Magazine
2021-07-20
"Russia's prohibition came not through legislation or imperial decree, but rather via a telegram dated Sept. 28, 1914, from Tsar Nicholas II to his favorite uncle, Konstantin Konstantinovich Romanov, which proclaimed 'I have already decided to abolish forever the government sale of vodka in Russia'... It was a decision that would hasten the end of the Romanov Empire itself."
Western Sanctions Are Shrinking Russia's Population
Foreign Policy
2017-10-19
"President Vladimir Putin openly admits that economic sanctions 'are severely harming Russia'... But have they sucked the very life out of Russia, too? There's reason to think Western sanctions may have pushed Russia off a demographic cliff."
On Prohibition's 100th Anniversary, Here's a Distillation of Three Myths About the Temperance Movement
The Washington Post
2017-08-01
"A century on, the common understanding of the Prohibition Era is based more on folklore than fact. Many believe that temperance was about right-wing 'Bible-thumpers' dictating to everyone 'thou shalt not drink'... But viewing Prohibition as a conservative cultural backlash runs into many inconvenient facts."
Putin Critic Boris Nemtsov Shot Dead in Moscow
NBC News Digital
2015-02-27
Boris Nemtsov was a veteran member of the liberal opposition and was briefly named as Boris Yelstin's possible successor in the late 1990s. "All the liberals were like 'this is the guy,'" said Mark Schrad, an assistant professor of political science at Villanova University and author of "Vodka Politics: Alcohol, Autocracy and the Secret History of the Russian State."
