Since the implosion of that state in 1991, Ukraine has developed a vibrant, if often troubled, democracy. For an increasingly dictatorial Russian political elite, including but not limited to Vladimir Putin, Ukraine has appeared more and more threatening. Humiliated by the degradation of Russia’s international standing, feeling betrayed by an expanding NATO and anxious about democratic revolutions in the former Soviet space, Putin and his allies have increasingly retreated into a resentful ultra-nationalism. Dreams of past imperial glory stand in place of any attempt to solve the problems of the present.
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine came as a shock to most of the world. In order to understand why this happened, a growing army of self-declared experts provided explanations often mis-representing the history of Ukraine and of Russia and mis-representing the pre-history of this war and the role of outside forces. As a historian of the Soviet Union and its successor states, Mark felt compelled to set the record straight. Watching this talk will provide insight into one of the most geopolitically significant and complex conflicts of our time.
