Russia Policy Forum Series

The REEES Russia Policy Forum brings together experienced policy professionals and NU faculty to examine responses to a resurgent Russia. Employing various methods to undermine Western unity and confidence, Russia has been exploiting fissures both within NATO and the EU, and within Western societies themselves. Topics under consideration include finding a balance between cooperation and containment, looking at the future of the EU and NATO, and identifying common ground with Russia on security challenges. Forum events are open to both NU faculty and students, and to the broader community.

Information about events, commentary, and faculty media appearances related to Russia's war on Ukraine can be found here.

Recent Events:

"Art and War in Ukraine: Postcolonial Retrieval, Anti-colonial Struggle, and Decolonial Release"

February 26, 2025

Art in Ukraine Between Identity Construction and Anti-Colonial Resistance traces the development of art practices in Ukraine from the 2004 Orange Revolution, through the 2013–2014 Revolution of Dignity, to the ongoing Russian war of aggression, exploring transformations of identity, the emergence of participatory democracy, changes to cultural institutions, and the necessity of decolonial release.

Ambicoloniality and War: The Ukrainian-Russian Case introduces the concept of “ambicoloniality” to address the current situation in which Ukraine has become Russia’s territory of obsession, while Russia, in its desire to occupy Ukraine, has paradoxically subjected itself to Ukraine’s symbolic dominance. The Ukrainian-Russian case differs significantly from the examples addressed by both postcolonial and decolonial theorists.

"The influence of the Russian-Ukrainian war on the global world order"

March 10, 2025

"Ostap Slyvynsky: A Ukrainian Dictionary of War"

October 31, 2024

October 3, 2024

“In the Wake of War: How the Geopolitical Ground Has Shifted in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia” 
October 16, 2023
Ian Kelly, Ambassador (ret.) in Residence at Northwestern University and the former US Ambassador to Georgia, hosted a panel discussion which included, Professor Ronald Suny (University of Michigan), Richard Kauzlarich (George Mason University), George Mchedlishvili (Tbilisi State University), and Olga Kamenchuk (Northwestern University) about the change in political dynamics within the south Caucasus region. 

REEES Speaker Series: "Have Putin's Strategic Objectives Changed?: A Conversation with Andrew S. Weiss"
May 10, 2023
Andrew Weiss, the James Family Chair and Vice President for Studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where he oversees research on Russia and Eurasia discussed his graphic novel biography of Vladimir Putin, Accidental Czar: the Life and Lies of Vladimir Putin.

Russia Policy Forum Speaker Series with Tymofiy Mylovanov: "One Year After the Invasion"
February 23, 2023
Co-sponsored by the Department of Political Science
Tymofiy Mylovanov, President of the Kyiv School of Economics and former Minister of Economic Development, offered firsthand insights into life under wartime conditions, reflections on the events of the past year, and analysis about what comes next.

Russia Policy Forum Speaker Series with Consul General Wolfgang Mössinger: "The Russia-Ukraine Crisis from the German Perspective"
February 16, 2022
Co-sponsored by the Department of German and the Department of Slavic Languages & Literatures
Wolfgang Mössinger, Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany for the Midwest, based in Chicago since July, 2019, discussed the German views on how to navigate the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

Russia Policy Forum Speaker Series with award-winning journalist Ann Cooper: "Controlling the Russian Narrative: Putin and the Media" 
November 17, 2021
Ann Cooper, a journalist and foreign correspondent with more than 25 years of radio and print reporting experience, discussed the legal and other challenges facing independent journalists in Putin's Russia.

Russia Policy Forum Speaker Series with Ambassador John Tefft: "The U.S. and the Russia Challenge"
May 19, 2021
John Tefft, a Senior Fellow at the RAND Corporation and former US Ambassador to Russia, discussed the challenging state of contemporary US-Russian relations.

Russia Policy Forum Speaker Series with Thomas Melia: "Democracy Promotion and the New Competition with Russia" 
April 29, 2021
Thomas Melia, formerly the Assistant Administrator of USAID for Eastern Europe and, prior to that, a Deputy Assistant Secretary in the State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, discussed the prospects for democracy promotion in the context of rising competition between Russia and the West.

A Dialogue with Russian Democracy Activist Vladimir Kara-Murza & Ambassador Ian Kelly: "Putin and the Struggle for Free Expression in Russia" 
November 10, 2020
Co-sponsored by the International Studies Program
Ian Kelly, Ambassador (ret.) in Residence at Northwestern University and the former US Ambassador to Georgia, discussed what it means to be an activist for freedom of speech under Putin's regime with Vladimir Kara-Murza. 

A Dialogue with German Consul General Wolfgang Mössinger & Ambassador Ian Kelly: "A New Cold War? Authoritarianism, Liberal Democracy & Why Ukraine Matters"
May 27, 2020 
Co-sponsored by the Center for International and Area Studies and the Office of the Vice President for International Relations
Ian Kelly, Ambassador (ret.) in Residence at Northwestern University and the former US Ambassador to Georgia, discussed the geopolitics of Ukraine and the surrounding region with German Consul General Wolfgang Mössinger.

Russia Policy Forum Speaker Series with Ambassador Steven Pifer: "The Troubled State of Nuclear Arms Control"
May 13, 2020 
Co-sponsored by the Political Science Department 
Steven Pifer, the William Perry Fellow at Stanford's Spogli Institute for International Studies and former US Ambassador to Ukraine, discussed the state of nuclear arms control agreements.

Russia Policy Forum Speaker Series with Liam Collins: "Russian Hybrid War, Ukraine, and US Policy."
January 30, 2020 
Co-sponsored by the Political Science Department and the War & Society Working Group
Colonel (Ret.) Liam Collins, PhD, a career Special Forces Officer who served as a high-level
defense advisor to Ukraine, discussed relations among Russia, Ukraine, and the United States.