Russian troops on the border of Ukraine, riots in Kazakhstan, brutal suppression of recent protests in Belarus, talk of a new Cold War, threats of catastrophic sanctions from America, and demands from Russia for new security guarantees. As negotiations begin between Russia and the West, how do we make sense of the confusing – and highly charged – state of East-West relations?

Why have tensions continued to rachet up in the first place? Is there some validity to Russian security concerns amidst the enlargement of NATO and the EU, or is Russia to blame for seeking to expand its sphere of influence? Is this a genuine opportunity for Biden and Putin to lower tensions, or even negotiate a new settlement for relations between the West and Russia, after the chaotic collapse of the Soviet Union? Or is this just a prelude to further hostilities? Why does the whole area of the former Soviet Union seem such a hotbed of geopolitical tensions today?

Join us for this AoI International Salon discussion via Zoom. The Academy of Ideas International Salon is an initiative launched in 2021, bringing together speakers and audience from around the world for online discussions about the big issues facing us today.

SPEAKERS INCLUDE

Mary Dejevsky
international affairs correspondent, Independent

Professor Frank Furedi
sociologist and commentator; author, 100 Years of Identity Crisis: culture war over socialisation

READINGS

How the Kazakhstan crisis reveals a bigger post-Soviet problem, Christian Science Monitor, 10 January 2022

Did this week’s US-NATO-Russia meetings push us closer to war?, Responsible Statecraft, 13 January 2022

Russia does not want a war in Ukraine, spiked, 10 December 2021

Liberal illusions caused the Ukraine crisis, Foreign Policy, 19 January 2022