Author: TheConversation

By Lynne Viola, Professor, Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto Vladimir Putin’s military aims, whether based on an attempt to restore the imperial grandeur of Russia or traditional Russian territorial paranoia, have resulted in the human tragedy of war unfolding before the world in Ukraine. Putin’s desires to reclaim what he sees as lost Russian territory have also extended to the realm of history, most recently with the most absurd and inaccurate claims about Ukraine’s history and statehood. Although Putin’s historical revisionism has been most intense around issues surrounding the Second World War and the supposed historical...

By Vic Satzewich, Professor of Sociology, McMaster University Members of diaspora communities often mobilize to provide support to their ancestral homeland during a crisis. While the Russian invasion of Ukraine is a crisis for Ukrainians, it is also a crisis for Russia, and thousands have been detained for protesting the war. But where is the Russian diaspora’s support for Russia in its time of crisis? Diaspora support during crises includes sending money to families and friends back home, financial aid to charitable organizations and business investment. It can also include the creation and reproduction of narratives to explain the...

By Dominique Arel, Professor and holder of the Chair of Ukrainian Studies, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa Almost a month has passed since since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his violent, unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. While his stated objectives hinted at the elimination of Ukraine’s defense and the removal of its political class, the rationale behind the invasion is harder to decode. Putin’s worldview is based on an extreme version of the Russian nationalist narrative over Ukraine. A core aspect is the claim that Russian speakers (those who prefer to speak Russian) and ethnic Russians are basically “Russian” and under...

By Matthew Pauly, Associate Professor of History, Michigan State University This is not the first time residents of Kyiv have fought to defend the city from an encroaching, larger army. On January 30, 1918, a force made up primarily of military cadets and hastily armed students took up positions at Kruty, a railway stop northeast of Kyiv, to defend the capital city of the Ukrainian People’s Republic against Soviet Russia. The republic had only declared formal independence a week earlier to rebuff aspirations by Vladimir Lenin’s Bolshevik Party to control Ukraine. By the end of the day, the young...

By Anton Oleinik, Professor of Sociology, Memorial University of Newfoundland The war started by Vladimir Putin against Ukraine is not unfolding as he expected it would. His attempts to play the Cold War game of making threats to achieve his goals were not perceived as credible by NATO. His hopes for a blitzkrieg have not materialized. His expectation that Russian troops would be met as liberators turned out to be wrong. Russian troops have failed to seize any of Ukraine’s major cities, including its capital of Kyiv, and may be running low on resources. Putin’s bet was so risky...

By Kirsten Gelsdorf, Professor of Practice and Director of Global Humanitarian Policy, Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, University of Virginia, University of Virginia; and Jacob Kurtzer, Director and Senior fellow, CSIS Humanitarian Agenda, Georgetown University As Russia continues to target houses, apartment buildings, hospitals and civilians in Ukraine, there are mounting calls from international aid groups to safely evacuate and protect Ukrainians caught in the war. Simultaneously, rising numbers of people still in Ukraine are in desperate need of food, medical supplies, water and other lifesaving materials. Russia and Ukraine have discussed what are called “humanitarian corridors”...