This Symposium examined the Russo-Ukrainian war and what it tells us about the strengths and weaknesses of the contemporary international system. It explored war crimes, crimes against humanity and alleged genocide arising from the conflict. It also revisited the enduring dichotomy between Russian authoritarian imperialism and Ukrainian democratic nationalism.
A recording of the Symposium proceedings is available in two parts here: morning program and afternoon program. The Symposium poster is available here.
PROGRAM
Presentation abstracts and speaker bios are available here.
8:30 IN-PERSON CHECK-IN
8:45 Welcoming Remarks
9:00-11:15 Presentations
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Serhii Plokhii, Mykhailo S. Hrushevs’kyi Professor of Ukrainian History; Director, Ukrainian Research Institute, Harvard University Russia’s attack on Ukraine produced the largest European conflict since the end of World War II and plunged the world into a new Cold War. Putin’s de facto declaration of war on Ukraine was dubbed a history lecture, and few observers outside Russia could make sense of it. How important have been the misuse and abuse of history in the perpetration and justification of this war, and what are the actual historical causes of the conflict? Serhii Plokhii will provide answers to these and other related questions by demonstrating that Ukraine and Ukrainian history have remained central to Russia’s idea of itself. He will also trace the origins of the newest European war to the fall of the USSR and will explain the reasons for the return of the Cold War to the very same part of the world where it ended thirty years earlier.
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Serhii Plokhii (Plokhy) is the Mykhailo Hrushevsky Professor of Ukrainian History and director of the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University. A leading authority on Ukraine, Russia, and Eastern Europe, he has published extensively on the international history of World War II and the Cold War. His books have won numerous awards, including the Lionel Gelber Prize for the best English-language book on international relations and the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction (UK). His latest book, The Russo-Ukrainian War: The Return of History will be released by W.W. Norton in the U.S. and by Penguin in the UK in May 2023.
“The Russo-Ukrainian War in Historical Perspective”
Serhii Plokhii, Mykhailo S. Hrushevs’kyi Professor of Ukrainian History; Director, Ukrainian Research Institute, Center for Government and International Studies, Harvard University
“The Protests that Were—and Weren’t: Russian Society and the War”
Willard Sunderland, Henry R. Winkler Professor of Modern History, University of Cincinnati
“A Collision of Histories? NATO Expansion and the Russo-Ukrainian War”
Timothy Andrews Sayle, Associate Professor, Department of History; Director, International Relations Program, University of Toronto
11:15-12:15 Lunch
12:15-3:15 Presentations
“Globalised Oligarchs”
Marlies Glasius, Professor in International Relations, Department of Politics, University of Amsterdam
“As Autocracies Fail, How Should Democracies Respond?”
Ken Roth, Former Executive Director, Human Rights Watch
“Russia and the New World Disorder”
Angela Stent, Director Emerita, Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies, Georgetown University; Senior Nonresident Fellow, The Brookings Institution
“What Does America Owe Ukraine?”
George Packer, Staff Writer, The Atlantic
3:15-3:30 Closing Remarks & Discussion
Sponsors: Alison Des Forges Memorial Committee; University at Buffalo: The Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy; Departments of Comparative Literature, History, Philosophy, and Political Science; Gender Institute; The Gordon and Gretchen Gross Professorship in Jewish Thought; Humanities Institute; James Agee Chair in American Culture; Office of the Vice Provost for International Education.
This symposium honors the life and work of human rights activist Alison Des Forges (1942-2009). For more information, email Roger Des Forges at rvd@buffalo.edu, Ellen Dussourd at dussourd@buffalo.edu, or Shaun Irlam at irlam@buffalo.edu.