The Global Politics of the War in Ukraine Fall 2022

About the Project

Welcome to the Global Politics of War (Fall 2022), hosted by students enrolled in POL-314-A. This podcast encourages students to use the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine to examine how various theories of international relations help us understand war and its aftermath. Among other topics, the students will examine the geopolitical dimensions of the Ukrainian conflict, the conduct of the war, its effects on world politics, and the different responses to it from across the world.

Episodes

From Liberal Pacifism to Renewed Militarism: The Consequences of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine on German Foreign Policy

Andrew Casterella, Arya Kukreja, Cormac Li, and Nate Vigdor use International Relations theory and Germany as a case study to think about the long-term implications of the war in Ukraine for the European project.

Nuclear Power Plants in a Warzone: What the War in Ukraine Teaches Us about the Future of Nuclear Energy

Thinking about the implications of the Russian occupation of Chernobyl and Zaporizhzhia, Claire Warncke and Piper Brown debate the desirability of relying on nuclear energy as a solution to the climate crisis.

To Condemn Russia or Not? What Can We Learn from Global South Responses to the War in Ukraine

Using Kenya, Indonesia, and Venezuela as case studies from very different regions of the Global South, Oumaru Kamara, Kairos Shaffer, Sothea Teng, and Gerry Todd discuss what we can learn about global power from their different responses to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The Power of War Photography

Charlie Frank and Liam Wulff walk through four photographs from the Crimean War to the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine that capture the moments, feelings, and stories that help viewers understand war.

Is the War in Ukraine leading to a Clash of Civilizations?

Marina Balasanyan and Brandon Martinez Serrano analyze the use of propaganda by NATO and Russia to suggest that the war in Ukraine is creating an archive of misinformation and bias that hardens an “East vs West” divide.

About the Instructor

Shampa Biswas
Judge & Mrs. Timothy A. Paul Chair of Political Science and Professor of Politics

Shampa Biswas is an international relations theorist specializing in postcolonial theory and nuclear politics. She has written and taught extensively on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, global security, race in international relations, global development, nationalism, globalization, and gender, and South Asian politics. She is currently working on a project on nuclear memorialization and the global story of Fat Man (the bomb dropped on Nagasaki) that connects uranium mining in Belgian Congo; plutonium production in Hanford, WA; the Trinity atomic test in New Mexico; and the bombing of Nagasaki.

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