RIP: Roger Kanet

Subject: RIP: Roger Kanet
Date: Tue, 6 Feb 2024
From: Boyle, Francis A <fboyle@illinois.edu>

When I joined the Law Faculty here in August of 1978, knowing of my extensive studies of Russia, the Soviet Union and the Soviet Legal System at Harvard, Roger asked me to become an associate of our then Russian Research Center. So I spent a lot of time working with Roger who was a Professor in the Political Science Department. Roger was a breath of fresh air around here. When dealing with Russia, the Soviet Union, nuclear arms control and international relations in general, Roger was always open-minded and non-ideological. I could always have a most productive and meaningful conversation with Roger about these matters and learned a lot in the process of interacting with him. In an era when Russian Studies have now become so highly politicized and polemical and ideological, we shall miss Roger’s acute and objective insights into these matters. I mourn his passing.

Francis A. Boyle
Professor of Law
University of Illinois College of Law