Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine | PONARS Eurasia Insights
OUR MISSION
The Program on New Approaches to Research and Security in Eurasia (PONARS Eurasia) is a network of over 125 academics, mainly from North America and post-Soviet Eurasia, advancing new approaches to research on security, politics, economics, and society in Russia and Eurasia. Its core missions are to connect scholarship to policy on and in Russia and Eurasia and to foster a community, especially of mid-career and rising scholars, committed to developing policy-relevant and collaborative research.
Policy memos
RECOMMENDED
Russia expert: West needs to self-reflect on its own responsibility in Ukraine war
(Courthouse News) Marlene Laruelle, the director of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies at George Washington University, says the West needs to look at itself in the mirror and see it also helped create conditions for war to break out in Ukraine. It’s become almost a taboo: In the West, bring up the role of NATO and the harm done by decades of “Russia bashing” as…
Ukrainians believe they’ll win the war, a survey finds
(Monkey Cage/Washington Post) The Pentagon announced $1 billion in military aid to Ukraine last week, the largest single drawdown of U.S. arms and equipment for Ukraine. And the U.S. treasury has authorized $4.5 billion in budgetary assistance to the Ukrainian government. These aid packages reaffirm the Biden administration’s commitment to meeting Ukraine’s “critical security and defense…
PONARS Eurasia Fall Policy Conference
Friday, September 30th The Elliott School of International Affairs, 1957 E St. NW, Washington DC or Online9:00 am-5:00 pm The PONARS Eurasia Fall Policy Conference convenes international experts from North America, Russia, Ukraine, and other parts of Eurasia for a series of panel discussions. This hybrid event offers an opportunity to hear from experts on important shifts in international…
Ukraine’s Asymmetric Responses to the Russian Invasion
(PONARS Eurasia Commentary) When can a weaker actor win against a far stronger player? For decades, Russian military experts and political elite have suggested that Russia should use asymmetric means and strategies in response to threats and challenges, especially from the West. Moscow now faces asymmetric strategic approaches directed against itself—a first since its own Afghanistan and…
NEW BOOK: Enemies Within: The Global Politics of Fifth Columns
The invocation of fifth columns in the political arena — whether contrived or based on real fears — has recurred periodically throughout history and is experiencing an upsurge in our era of democratic erosion and geopolitical uncertainty. Fifth columns accusations can have baleful effects on governance and trust, as they call into question the loyalty and belonging of the…
Perspectives on Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine: A Collection of PONARS Eurasia Policy Memos
PONARS Eurasia proudly presents a new curated e-book of policy memos, featuring diverse contributions from PONARS Eurasia experts on various impacts and aspects of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Table of Contents I. Russia’s Decision to Invade and Military ConductPresident Putin’s Rationality and Escalation in Russia’s Invasion of UkraineKimberly MartenA New Stage in…
How Zelensky Has Changed Ukraine
A former showman, Volodymyr Zelensky took the theater out of Ukrainian electoral politics by using genuine communication, not pressure, to garner votes. Comedy as a tool of democratic resilience and contestation has remained central to his leadership. In his previous career, Zelensky promoted an expansive vision of Ukrainian political nationhood that elevated local identities. As…
So, Is Russia Fascist Now? Labels and Policy
Implications
Russia’s horrific war in Ukraine has sharply revived debate over charges of Russia’s fascist behavior. The most vocal voices in this debate are Yale historian Timothy Snyder, who has proclaimed that “Putin’s regime … is the world center of fascism,” and authored an op-ed in The New York Times entitled “We Should Say It: Russia Is Fascist.” Similar arguments are advanced by Rutgers…
Online Academy
PONARS Eurasia Online Academy: educational videos authored by members and designed to provide succinct overviews of policy-relevant research and scholarship on Russia and Eurasia. Each video is accompanied by a list of additional sources, providing a foundation for those who would like to learn more about the topics addressed.
Join our events
No event found!
Listen to our podcast
- In this week’s PONARS Eurasia Podcast, Maria Lipman speaks with Russian China experts Vita Spivak and Alexander Gabuev about the February meeting between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, and what it may tell us about where the Russian-Chinese relationship is headed.
- In this week’s PONARS Eurasia Podcast, Maria Lipman chats with scholars Kelly Smith and Benjamin Nathans about the history, achievements, and impending shutdown of the Memorial Society, Russia's oldest and most venerable civic organization, and what its imminent liquidation portends for the Russian civil society.
- In this week’s PONARS Eurasia Podcast, Maria Lipman chats with social scientist Andrey Shcherbak about the quality of the data collected in the recent population census and the goals of Vladimir Putin's government's nationalities policy
- In this week’s PONARS Eurasia Podcast, Maria Lipman chats with Alexander Verkhovsky about the Kremlin's ever expanding toolkit against political and civic activists, journalists, and other dissidents.
