Ukraine, Russia, EU, and Vladimir Putin

Join us for a timely webinar on the tragic war in Ukraine. Two distinguished professors with expertise in Russian and Eastern European history will discuss Russia, Putin, and Ukraine.  Q&A will follow.   

This is a Zoom webinar. Registrants will receive a link to join the webinar after registering. We ask that you please submit questions prior to the webinar.

The Panelists

Dr. Rich Bidlack, the Martin and Brooke Stein Professor of History, will discuss Putin’s gnawing sense of insecurity dating to his youth and his time as a Lt. Colonel in the KGB. He will articulate Putin’s notion that Ukraine does not exist, and that it is his destiny to “gather in the Russian lands."

Dr. Krzysztof Jasiewicz, the Ames Professor of Sociology, is a native of Poland. He will discuss Putin’s ideas and actions as alarming manifestations of an imperialistic state of mind. He will also look at Poland, the Baltics, and Hungary, and how the EU and NATO have reacted to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Watch the recording.