Professor and Russia Expert on Upcoming Trump-Putin Summit: 'Trump is Playing Putin's Game'

Cynthia Hooper, associate professor of history and director of Russian and Eastern European Studies. Photo by Tom Rettig

The Conversation

On July 16 President Donald Trump is scheduled to participate in a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland, a meeting generating media buzz worldwide.

In an article for The Conversation, Cynthia Hooper, associate professor of history and director of Russian and Eastern European Studies at the College of the Holy Cross, analyzes European and Russian media coverage of the impending summit and offers her expert opinion on some of the predictions for the meeting.

Hooper suggests the deck is ultimately stacked in favor of Putin as "any deals Trump might try to make — even in regard to Syria and Iran — can be cast by his critics as capitulating to a tyrant he has too long failed to condemn." She goes on to say that "Putin has only to stand back and — in World Cup parlance — wait to take advantage of a perfect 'scoring' opportunity."

You can read the full article at The Conversation. The piece has also been republished by International Business Times, Chicago Tribune and San Francisco Chronicle/SFGate.

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