Authors

Natasha Kuhrt⁵; Stephen Hall²; Precious Chatterje-Doody⁴; Ruth Deyermond¹; Anna Chebotarova³;  ¹ King's College London, UK;  ² University of Bath, UK;  ³ University of Oslo, ILOS, Norway;  ⁴ The Open University, UK;  ⁵ KCL, UK

Discussion

Back in late 2021, intelligence reports indicated that a Russian invasion of Ukraine was imminent. Across disciplines and national contexts, scholars took varied approaches to the prospect of war: some foregrounded Russia’s precedent for aggression against their own states; others charted troop movements and their meanings; yet more interrogated the relative strategic gains of an actual versus threatened invasion. In this roundtable, we will discuss the extent to which Western academia mis-read Putin and Russia prior to the invasion. Over a year on, we ask: What analytical and disciplinary blindspots have been brought to light? To what extent have scholars learnt from past mistakes? What of the relationship between academia and practitioners? And, in the context of an ongoing war, how can we make sure our scholarship, commentary and impact is both accurate and ethical?