“Russian Grand Strategy: Reality and Rhetoric” will be an in-depth discussion of the August 2021 report issued by the Rand Corporation and authored by Samuel Charap, Dara Massicot and others. Understanding Russia’s grand strategy can help U.S. decisionmakers both avoid strategic surprise by anticipating Moscow’s actions and reactions and assess the depth and nature of potential conflicts between Russia and the United States. The authors of this report review Russia’s declared grand strategy, evaluate the extent to which Russian behavior is consistent with stated strategy, and outline implications for the United States. The discussants will be Samuel Charap, Senior Political Scientist, and Dara Massicot, Senior Policy Researcher, both of the RAND Corporation. It will be moderated by Michael Kimmage, of the Kennan Institute and of the Catholic University of America.