Yesterday, a panel discussion held at the think tank, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, starred perhaps the most unusual candidate for President of the Russian Federation there has ever been. Ksenia Sobchak, seen by many as Russia’s version of American celebrity Paris Hilton, was in Washington D.C. for the talk. The video is below.

The Washington Post did an article bio that had some interesting tidbits about Sobchak. According to that article, “It has been rumored, though never confirmed, that Ksenia Sobchak is Putin’s goddaughter”. Some quick research reveals that Sobchak gained fame after appearing on Russia’s “Big Brother” ripoff and later was a Playboy pin-up model.

Ksenia Sobchak is the main democratic opposition candidate registered for the upcoming presidential elections in Russia. The Civil Initiative, a non-parliamentary party, supported her nomination. Her goal is to make Russia a prosperous country that is respected by the world community.

She wants a country governed by the rule of law, where presidents and lawmakers are elected and not appointed over and over again, where courts serve justice and do not punish innocent law-abiding citizens, where the parliament is a truly independent branch of power and not a rubber stamp in the hands of the President, where laws support development of small- and mid-sized businesses rather than suppress them, and where law enforcement agencies actually protect citizens.

The event was held under the title, “Russia’s Post-Authoritarian Future: A Conversation with Russian Presidential Candidate Ksenia Sobchak” as part of the CSIS Prospects and Hopes series. Introductory remarks were made by President and CEO of CSIS Dr. John J. Hamre, who was also the 26th U.S. deputy secretary of defense,  followed by a presentation from Sobchak. The moderator was Dr. Olga Oliker, director of the Russia and Eurasia Program at CSIS.

The video is about 90 minutes. Take a look: