JRL NEWSWATCH: “GW Experts Offer Analysis and Observations on Russia/Ukraine Crisis” – GW Today

“Elliott School panelists discussed military strategy, civilian resistance, economic sanctions and foreign affairs response to ongoing violent crisis.”

“…. Miscalculations have been an early theme … said Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies Director Marlene Laruelle. … [T]he [Putin] regime … showed it was not afraid to do what many people both abroad and internally didn’t think was imaginable in invading Ukraine, showing its high threshold for both receiving and delivering a mass amount of pain and causalities. … [Meanwhile,] resistance from Ukraine and its citizens has caught the Russian military operation by surprise. … includ[ing] a strong front from … Zelensky and his willingness [to] defend the country he leads. …”

“Kurt Volker …  former special representative for Ukraine negotiations, said [Russia’s] actions … have clearly shown that Putin is the aggressor and entered Ukraine unprovoked, contrary to what [Putin claimed] …. [F]or years, Putin’s actions have pointed toward restoring the old Soviet Union. Russian citizens and people of influence have had to be careful [about] speaking out … but there’s been a vocal enough internal opposition. ‘I think that Russians see that Putin is not acting rationally’ … ‘I think the Russian military sees this. I think the intelligence services see this, and I think they may be concerned about what he may do.’…”

The discussion featured:

• Elliott School of International Affairs Dean Alyssa Ayres
• Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies Director Marlene Laruelle, who is also director of the Illiberalism Studies Program, Central Asia Program and co-director of PONARS-Eurasia
• Alumnus Kurt Volker, M.A. ’87, former special representative for Ukraine negotiations
• GW Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs Alexander Downes
• Professor of Economics and International Affairs and Director of the M.A. in the International Economic Policy Program Michael O. Moore
• Charles Glaser, professor of Political Science and International Affairs and co-director of the Institute for Security and Conflict Settings 

Click here for: “GW Experts Offer Analysis and Observations on Russia/Ukraine Crisis; Elliott School panelists discussed military strategy, civilian resistance, economic sanctions and foreign affairs response to ongoing violent crisis.” – GW Today/ Nick Erickson, Alyssa Ayres, Kurt Volker, Alexander Downes, Michael O. Moore, Charles Glaser

[featured images are file photos from other occasions]