The limits of critique: responses to the war against Ukraine from the Russian foreign policy expert community

The war in Ukraine represents a significant turning point in the evolution of Russia's foreign policy expert community. This essay examines how Russian experts perceive the war and its consequences, taking into consideration the influence of state censorship and repression on their practices. It explores the limited ability of experts to shape Russia's conduct of war and the moral choices they face in Putin's Russia. Drawing on the notion of boundary zones, I note the historical evolution of the expert community as a hybrid entity that bridges state and society, and analyse the varied reactions among experts to the war using Hirschman's framework of exit, voice, and loyalty. I conclude that loyalty to the political regime has become crucial for voicing critique within the shrinking space of legitimate political discourse.