Memory wars have been an enduring feature of the foreign policy toolkit of Central and Eastern European states, with a major dividing line between Poland, the Baltic states, and Ukraine, as well as, to a lesser extent, Moldova, Georgia, and Romania on the one side; and on the other: Russia.
So far, scholarship has mostly focused on the memory aspect of these memory wars, but Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has suddenly reminded us about war itself. But how have memory wars discussions and nation-building mythologies contributed to laying the ground for the current war? What are the elite-driven as well as the more grassroots perceptions of memory issues in Russia, Ukraine, and the neighboring countries?
Speakers:
Travis Frederick is a PhD candidate in security studies at Princeton University where his research examines the impact of government history policies on collective memory and national security in Russia.
Jade McGlynn is an academic specialising in Russian memory politics and foreign relations at the Monterey Initiative in Russian Studies. Her forthcoming monograph, The Kremlin’s Memory Makers, will be released by Bloomsbury later this year.
Félix Krawatzek is a political scientist and, since September 2018, a senior researcher at ZOiS, where he coordinates the research cluster Youth in Eastern Europe. He is also an Associate Member of Nuffield College (University of Oxford). His research focuses on post-Soviet politics and European politics more broadly.
George Soroka is Lecturer on Government and Assistant Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Government Department of Harvard University, from where he earned his PhD. His research focuses on post-communist Europe, specifically Poland, Russia, and Ukraine. Themes he has recently published on include memory politics, the politics of religion, and regional security. His work has appeared in diverse outlets, including East European Politics and Societies, Foreign Affairs, Journal of Democracy, and Problems of Post-Communism.
Moderator:
Marlene Laruelle is Director of the Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies; Director of the Central Asia Program; Director of the Illiberalism Studies Program; Co-Director of PONARS Eurasia; and Research Professor of International Affairs at The George Washington University. She works on political, social, and cultural changes in the post-Soviet space. Marlene’s research explores the transformations of nationalist and conservative ideologies in Russia, nationhood construction in Central Asia, as well as the development of Russia’s Arctic regions.