Domestic Politics and Peace/Conflict: The Soviet Union in 1991 and Russia Today

Monday 11 September

KOL E 18

09:00

Admission and Registration

09:30

Welcome and Opening

09:45

Seminar

Jeffrey Checkel European University Institute, Italy

moderated by Christoph Steinert University of St. Gallen, Switzerland

In 1991, the Cold War ended with (almost) no shots fired.  Thirty-one years later - in 2022 - war returned to Europe.  In both cases, developments in Soviet and now Russian domestic politics played a central role in bringing about these outcomes.  But what do we mean by 'domestic politics'? I will argue for a broad conception, where a combination of changing domestic institutional dynamics and identity narratives empower individual agency, thus leading to unexpected, large-scale change. The Soviet leader in 1991 - Mikhail Gorbachev - chose peace, while the Russian leader in 2022 - Vladimir Putin - chose war.  Why?

10.45

     Morning break

11.00

Interactive session and Q&A

12.00

     Lunch break

Workshop

13.00

Dereje Feye Bonga University

Challanges face to Democracy in India

14.00

Olena Snigyr Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance / European University Institute

Russian Strategic Narratives 2022-2023

15:00

Discussion

16:30

     Afternoon Break

17.00

Keynote

Jeffrey Checkel European University Institute

The Cold War ended, democracy in Europe spread and 'moved East' - and look where we are today: large scale war has returned to the continent.  Indeed, something has gone wrong in the equation between democracy and peace.  I argue that it has been a combination - of Western hubris, especially by the European Union; American miscalculation and disengagement; and political agency empowered by historically constructed identity narratives - that have brought Europe to where it is today.  When something big happens, it is tempting to reach for simple answers. 'It's NATO's fault!'  'If it weren't for Putin ...'  In contrast, I argue the opposite. To understand the return of war to Europe, we need multiple tools - institutional theory (EU's role), comparative political theory (American domestic politics), and theory on identity construction (competing identity narratives).

18.00

     Welcome Apero