Professor Richard Sakwa, University of Kent: ‘Frontline Ukraine: Crisis in the Borderlands’. Event organised by Strife, with the participation of the BISA Russian and Eurasian Security Research Group.
WHEN: Monday, 9 March 6:00 – 7:30,
WHERE: Pyramid Room (K4U.04), King’s Building, Strand Campus, King’s College London, WC2R 2LS
DESCRIPTION: The ongoing crisis in Ukraine has brought the world to the brink of a new Cold War. Following the Russian expansion in Crimea and as the conflict in Eastern Ukraine rages on, relations between Vladimir Putin and the West have reached an all-time low. How did we get here?
In his latest book, Professor Richard Sakwa unpicks the context of conflicted Ukrainian identity and of Russo-Ukrainian relations and traces the path to the recent disturbances through the events which have forced Ukraine, a country internally divided between East and West, to choose between closer union with Europe or its historic ties with Russia.
In providing the first full account of the ongoing crisis, Sakwa analyses the origins and significance of the Euromaidan Protests, examines the controversial Russian military intervention and annexation of Crimea, reveals the extent of the catastrophe of the MH17 disaster and looks at possible ways forward following the October 2014 parliamentary elections. In doing so, he explains the origins, developments and global significance of the internal and external battle for Ukraine.
With all eyes focused on the region, Richard Sakwa unravels the myths and misunderstandings of the situation, providing an essential account of the struggle for Europe’s contested borderlands.
Richard Sakwa is Professor of Russian and European politics at the University of Kent, where he also served for a number of years as the head of the Department of Politics and International Relations. He is one of the leading UK experts in Soviet and post-Soviet affairs and has written and edited a number of books and articles on the subject. Among his many accolades, Professor Sakwa is Associate Fellow of the Russia and Eurasia Programme at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, a member of the Advisory Boards of the Institute of Law and Public Policy in Moscow, a member of the Eurasian Political Studies Network and a member of Academy of Learned Societies for the Social Sciences. His current research interests include democratic development in Russia, the nature of post-Communism, and the variety of global challenges facing the former communist countries.
Richard Sakwa, Frontline Ukraine: Crisis in the Borderlands, Published by I.B.Tauris, December 2014. New from £18.99 (Hardback). ISBN: 9781784530648.
