War in Ukraine

The implications and consequences of the Russian assault on Ukraine will be felt for years, particularly in Europe but also in US-Russia relations, intensified by the 11,000 nuclear weapons the adversaries have aimed at each other. It is a perilous time, and the Center will be closely involved via analysis, advice, and informing the public. Below is recent coverage from our Russia scholars and security studies faculty on the invasion that began on February 24, 2022.

Podcast: Social science of war: Why defense reform in Ukraine is crucial

March 25, 2024

Modern War Institute at West Point

Ukranian flag over rubble

Starr Forum: Rebuilding Ukraine While Under Fire

September 18, 2023

Virtual event

Russia and China shaking hands

America shouldn’t insist on a strategic defeat of Russia

December 13, 2023

Michael O’Hanlon and Caitlin Talmadge
The Hill

Russia and China shaking hands

Foreign policy scholars examine the China-Russia relationship

November 17, 2023

Peter Dizikes
MIT News

Ukranian flag over rubble

Starr Forum: Rebuilding Ukraine While Under Fire

September 18, 2023

Virtual event

screenshot of Carol Saivetz

Evaluating the Ukraine counteroffensive

September 7, 2023

Carol Saivetz
GBH News

screenshot of Carol Saivetz

Questions remain after presumed death of Wagner chief

August 25, 2023

Carol Saivetz
NECN

screenshot of Carol Saivetz

Podcast: Prigozhin plane down

August 23, 2023

Elizabeth Wood
WBZ News Radio1030

screenshot of Carol Saivetz

Should the west keep arming Ukraine or push for peace?

August 18, 2023

Emma Ashford
Foreign Policy

screenshot of Carol Saivetz

Ukraine has a breakthrough problem

August 3, 2023

Barry R Posen
Foreign Policy

screenshot of Carol Saivetz

Elizabeth Wood on "Day of Russia" holiday

June 12, 2023

Elizabeth Wood
Scripps News

In a time of war, a new effort to help

In a time of war, a new effort to help

May 2, 2023

Peter Dizikes
MIT News

Starr Forum | From Chornobyl to Zaporizhzhia: The Atom and its Impact on Ukraine’s Politics and Security

Starr Forum | From Chornobyl to Zaporizhzhia: The Atom and its Impact on Ukraine’s Politics and Security

April 24, 2023

Kate Brown, Mariana Budjeryn, Carol Saivetz, Elizabeth Wood

A Russian tank

If Russia goes nuclear, how does the West respond?

Mar 13, 2023

Stephen Van Evera
Eurasianet

Starr Forum: Ukraine and Russia One Year On: The Domestic Impact of the War

Starr Forum: Ukraine and Russia One Year On: The Domestic Impact of the War

February 27, 2023

Yevgenia Albats, Olga Onuch, Carol Saivetz, Elizabeth Wood

Map of Ukraine

Lessons from Russia's invasion of Ukraine

February 13, 2023

Barry Posen and Stephen Van Evera
Defense Priorities

Russia's rebound

Russia's rebound

December 24, 2022

Barry Posen
Foreign Affairs

 

Sanctions won't end Russia's war in Ukraine

Sanctions won't end Russia's war in Ukraine

December 24, 2022

Mariya Grinberg
National Interest

 

Energy as a weapon of war: Russia, Ukraine, and Europe

STARR FORUM Energy as a weapon of war: Russia, Ukraine, and Europe

December 9, 2022 | Watch Video

Margarita Balmaceda, Constanze Stelzenmüller, Carol Saivetz, and Elizabeth Wood

What is America's interest in the Ukraine war?

What is America's interest in the Ukraine war?

October 30, 2022

Joshua Shifrinson
National Interest

SSP Special Seminar: The war in Ukraine: Military, political, and economic lessons for the United States

SSP Special Seminar: The war in Ukraine: Military, political, and economic lessons for the United States

October 7, 2022 | Watch Video

Barry Posen, Carol Saivetz, Mariya Grinberg, Taylor Fravel (Chair)

Where Russia’s invasion of Ukraine stands

Where Russia’s invasion of Ukraine stands

October 11, 2022

Peter Dizikes
MIT News

‘Starr Forum: An Update on Russia's War Against Ukraine

Starr Forum: An update on Russia's war against Ukraine

October 7, 2022 | Watch Video

Carol Saivetz, Elizabeth Wood, Volodymyr Dubovyk, Michael Kofman, and Steven Simon

Ukraine gaining ground over Russian troops

Ukraine gaining ground over Russian troops

September 14, 2022

Carol Saivetz
NECN

‘This war isn’t even close to over’: Ukrainian advances spring hope, but not victory

‘This war isn’t even close to over’: Ukrainian advances spring hope, but not victory

September 12, 2022

Carol Saivetz, Tom Nichols, and Jim Braude
GBH News

Ukraine needs solutions, not endless war

Ukraine needs solutions, not endless war

July 30, 2022

Steven Simon and Jonathan Stevenson
National Interest

War in Ukraine entering sixth month

War in Ukraine entering sixth month

July 25, 2022

Carol Saivetz
NECN

Ukraine’s implausible theories of victory

Ukraine’s implausible theories of victory

July 8, 2022

Barry Posen
Foreign Affairs

Posen webinar

What will be the impact of the war in Ukraine for the future of European security?

June 29, 2022

Speakers: Barry Posen and Nicole Koenig
Cato Institute

As war drags on in Ukraine, is it time to talk compromise?

As war drags on in Ukraine, is it time to talk compromise?

June 21, 2022

Steven Simon (CIS), Anne Applebaum (The Atlantic), and Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze (Ukrainian Parliament, European Solidarity Party)
WBUR On Point

Hypotheses on the implications of the Ukraine-Russia War

Hypotheses on the implications of the Ukraine-Russia War

June 6, 2022

Barry Posen
Defense Priorities

Sanctioned behavior

Sanctioned behavior

June 3, 2022

Erik Sand
War on the Rocks

Boots on the ground, eyes in the sky

Boots on the ground, eyes in the sky

May 30, 2022

Erik Lin-Greenberg and Theo Milonopoulos
Foreign Affairs

 Can Russia and the West survive a nuclear crisis in Ukraine?

Can Russia and the West survive a nuclear crisis in Ukraine?

May 13, 2022

Barry Posen
National Interest

The Russo-Ukrainian war’s dangerous slide into total societal conflict

The Russo-Ukrainian war’s dangerous slide into total societal conflict

May 13, 2022

Jonathan Shimshoni and Ariel E Levite
National Interest

Ukraine: Three divergent stands, three scenarios

Is Russia failing in its fight In Ukraine?

April 25, 2022

Carol Saivetz
New England Cable News

Collapse of the Soviet Union

Starr Forum: The collapse of the Soviet empire and the seeds of the new European war

April 25, 2022 | Watch video

Featuring: Vladislav Zubok
Co-chairs: Carol Saivetz, Elizabeth Wood

The latest round of sanctions on Russia

The latest round of sanctions on Russia

April 11, 2022

Erik Sand and Emily J Holland
@ConvSix

Ukraine: Three divergent stands, three scenarios

Ukraine: Three divergent stands, three scenarios

April 10, 2022

Kunal Singh
Hindustan Times

The risk of Russian chemical weapons use

The risk of Russian chemical weapons use

April 7, 2022

Doreen Horschig
Political Violence at a Glance

How the war complicates Biden's Iran diplomacy

How the war complicates Biden's Iran diplomacy

April 6, 2022

John Tirman
Democracy in Exile

The Falklands War at 40: A lesson for our time

The Falklands War at 40: A lesson for our time

April 6, 2022

Robert Ralston
Responsible Statecraft

Starr Forum: The Wider Implications of the War in Ukraine

What Russia’s invasion of Ukraine means for the world

April 5, 2022

Peter Dizikes
MIT News

Starr Forum: The Wider Implications of the War in Ukraine

Starr Forum: The wider implications of the war in Ukraine

April 4, 2022 | Watch Video

Speakers: Jacqueline Bhabha, Joel Brenner, Taylor Fravel, Roger Petersen, James Walsh
Co-chairs: Carol Saivetz, Elizabeth Wood

A monument to an early Soviet Union-era tactical nuclear bomb in Moscow.Credit...Maxim Shipenkov/EPA, via Shutterstock

Why Putin went straight for the nuclear threat

April 1, 2022

Steven Simon and Jonathan Stevenson
New York Times

Ukrainian soldiers rest

A major Ukrainian internet provider reports a cyberattack.

March 28, 2022

Ada Petriczko
New York Times

President Biden

After Biden's warning, how might Russian cyberattacks play out in the US?

March 25, 2022

Hiawatha Bray (Joel Brenner quoted extensively)
Boston Globe

Headshots of Barry Posen and Stephen Rademaker

Ukraine war: Experts debate NATO's role

March 22, 2022

Barry Posen and Stephen Rademaker
Munk Debates Podcast

Here’s what Western leaders need to remember about Zelensky’s emotional appeals

Here’s what Western leaders need to remember about Zelensky’s emotional appeals

March 21, 2022

Roger Petersen
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

zoom screenshot

Russian forces abducted four Ukrainian journalists, a union says.

March 21, 2022

Ada Petriczko
New York Times

Pasha Lee in uniform

Ukraine’s celebrities are dying in the war, adding an extra dimension to the nation’s shock.

March 19, 2022

Matthew Mpoke Bigg and Ada Petriczko
New York Times

Upcoming Starr Forum with Joshua Yaffa

Starr Forum: The war in Ukraine: A reporter's view

March 14, 2022 | Watch Video

Featuring: Joshua Yaffa, reporting from Ukraine; Co-chaired by Carol Saivetz and Elizabeth Wood

Ukraine war revives anxiety about nuclear conflict

Ukraine war revives anxiety about nuclear conflict

March 12, 2022

Brian MacQuarrie and Maham Javaid
Boston Globe

Two men on the street outside a building with the exchange rate in neon signs

We call on Biden to reject reckless demands for a no-fly zone

March 11, 2022

Barry Posen, Open Letter Signatory
The Guardian

A MIG-29 fighter jet of the Polish Air Force in Radom, Poland, in 2013.

Pentagon says Poland’s fighter jet offer is not ‘tenable.’

March 9, 2022

Ada Petriczko
New York Times

Two men on the street outside a building with the exchange rate in neon signs

The Russian sanctions regime and the risk of catastrophic success

March 8, 2022

Erik Sand and Suzanne Freeman

Refugees fleeing Russia's invasion of Ukraine in Lviv, March 2022 Kai Pfaffenbach / Reuters

How the war in Ukraine could get much worse

March 8, 2022

Emma Ashford and Joshua Shifrinson

The ghosts of history haunt the Russia-Ukraine crisis

The ghosts of history haunt the Russia-Ukraine crisis

March 7, 2022

Elizabeth Wood
Broadstreet

Illustration of Putin with rockets

What Putin’s nuclear threats mean for the US

March 3, 2022

Caitlin Talmadge
Wall Street Journal

Participants in the panel discussion

Understanding the War in Ukraine with MIT SSP

March 2, 2022

Mariya Grinberg, Barry Posen, Carol Saivetz, Elizabeth Wood, Taylor Fravel
MIT Security Studies Program

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

March 2, 2022

Elizabeth Wood
MIT News

Damage from a missile in an apartment building in Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb. 25.LYNSEY ADDARIO/NYT

Watching war in real time, one TikTok at a time

March 1, 2022

Maham Javaid
Boston Globe

People walking in front of the Russian Duma building in Moscow, on February 22.Credit...Sergei Ilnitsky/EPA, via Shutterstock

A few members of the Russian Parliament speak out against the war.

February 28, 2022

Ada Petriczko
New York Times

Russia and Ukraine flag with EU flag ripped in-between

Russia, Ukraine, and European security

February 22, 2022

Barry Posen
CATO

Monument of Independence - a column with a figure of a woman with a branch of a guelder-rose on her hands. In the foreground the Ukrainian flag

To prevent war and secure Ukraine, make Ukraine neutral

February 19, 2022

Stephen Van Evera
Defense Priorities

 Vladimir Putin, surrounded by top military officers and officials, tours a military flight test centre in Akhtubinsk on May 14, 2019. ALEXEY NIKOLSKY/AFP via Getty Images

Causing crisis works

February 19, 2022

Kelly M Greenhill & Joshua Shifrinson
Foreign Policy

Ukraine and Russian flags on a cracked brick wall

Ukraine: Unleashing the rhetorical dogs of war

February 15, 2022

Barry Posen
Just Security

Ukraine poster image from event

Is an armed conflict imminent?

February 4, 2022

Peter Dizikes
MIT News

Russian service members gather near armored vehicles during drills held by the Southern Military District at the Kadamovsky range in the Rostov region, January 27, 2022. (REUTERS/Sergey Pivovarov)

Putin’s misleading hairsplitting about who can join NATO

February 2, 2022

Stephen Van Evera
Polygraph

Russia Ukraine Flags

Starr Forum: The Russian-Ukrainian Conflict: A prologue to WWIII or another frozen conflict?

January 28, 2022

Dmitry Gorenburg, Harvard; Olga Oliker, International Crisis Group; Serhii Plokhii, Harvard; Carol Saivetz, MIT; and Elizabeth Wood, MIT

President Putin and President Biden seated and talking

US public prefers diplomacy over war on Ukraine

January 25, 2022

Robert Ralston
Responsible Statecraft