It is commonplace these days to invoke the fears that Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has awoken in Eastern Europe. With the 2008 invasion still fresh in the minds, the Black Sea nation of Georgia…
The reasons for the prominence of the Ukraine war in the West are many – and include the Ukrainian government’s strategic efforts to tailor presentations of the conflict for Western sensibilities.
While it is tempting to view the war in Ukraine as a metaphor for some larger struggle between a tolerant West and an intolerant East, the reality is inevitably far more complex.
The West’s new approach to Russia – bar it from international organizations, restrict international trade, prevent further military moves – looks just like how it treated Russia in the 20th century.
‘Vlad the mad’ psychological analyses don’t help us understand Russia’s war. Historians gain insights by examining the enabling and determining factors behind why conflicts erupt.
The sort of scenarios that might lead to the use of nuclear weapons in the Ukraine war would require a significant deterioration in Russian fortunes — and greater western involvement in the conflict.
Kibrom Abay, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) ; Guush Berhane, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) , and Jordan Chamberlin, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)
Our work highlights the potential of phone surveys to monitor active and large-scale conflicts.