Discussion Primer: The War in Ukraine

This week, the Political Union will look a bit different from usual. If you've been with us in the past, you'll know that occasionally, instead of our typical pro-and-con debates, we do more open-ended discussions about a topic. We pose various questions on it before opening the floor to discussion. Our conversation this week focuses on the War in Ukraine. 

It is crucial to note that the current war has roots in decades of Russian hostility toward Ukraine. The 2004 Orange Revolution and the 2013-2014 Euromaidan protests, essentially, were popular Ukrainian uprisings against Russian interference in Ukrainian politics and elections. And in 2014, Russia invaded and then annexed Crimea, a Ukrainian region, and backed pro-Russian separatists in the Ukrainian Donetsk and Luhansk regions. So, the present full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24, 2022—with Putin falsely announcing it as a "special military operation" to "demilitarize and denazify Ukraine—notably comes, to a significant extent, from this history of hostility.  

The War in Ukraine has reverberated around the globe. Economic consequences related to Ukrainian grain production and NATO sanctions on Russia, especially regarding gas prices, have received considerable attention. Awful human rights abuses by Russian soldiers, among other issues, have also been the subject of significant discussion. 

Furthermore, as the war has carried on, shifting from a frantic defensive effort to stop the advancing Russian army in the winter to a stalemate in the summer to a relatively successful Ukrainian counterattack in recent months, dialogue about the war has also transformed. To what extent should the US and its allies continue, or enhance, their support of Ukraine? Are peace talks possible or desirable, as some, especially in European countries feeling the brunt of increased gas prices, have suggested? Could Russia, as Putin has scarily intimated, resort to using tactical nuclear weapons, and what would the US/NATO response to that be? 

Join us on Monday, Oct. 24, to discuss these questions and more. In this primer, as always, we’ve compiled a short list of materials you may find helpful before attending the discussion. 

First, while this piece from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a prominent Washington DC-based think tank, is a bit long, it does a terrific job explaining the background of the conflict.

Next, consider looking at this NPR article, which discusses Russia’s nuclear arsenal and whether Putin might use nuclear weapons in Ukraine. 

Also, check out this excellent, brief story from MIT’s Sloan School of Management, a deep dive into the profound global economic consequences of the war.   

Finally, this piece, issued by the Atlantic Council, offers a helpful introduction to peace talks occurring potentially between Russia and Ukraine.

"Russia Ukraine Locator" by Dim Grits is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0