John Besemeres
![John Besemeres](https://www.lowyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/pictures/156251-besemeres-john4.jpg)
Biography
Publications
John Besemeres taught politics at Monash University, was head of Polish and later Slavonic Studies at Macquarie University, spent 5 years working as a translator in Belgrade and Warsaw, served for some 30 years in several Australian government portfolios including PM&C, Immigration and Ethnic Affairs and Foreign Affairs and Trade, and has published extensively on Russian and Eastern European affairs.
![Russia-Ukraine: soggy response to Kerch aggression](https://www.lowyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/styles/expert_publications/public/Tfzl4Emz55pbHr692xjQv48LYWG6rmSt.jpg?itok=XJNnvw-H)
Russia-Ukraine: soggy response to Kerch aggression
It is not tensions that are escalating but the relentless Russian acts of aggression against Ukraine.
![Putin’s Trump-supported hybrid war on the West](https://www.lowyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/styles/expert_publications/public/russia-usa-flags.jpg?itok=X2zz97pW)
Putin’s Trump-supported hybrid war on the West
It needs to be understood that Russia views the EU and the West generally as an enemy.