Ronald B. Mitchell, Professor

War in Ukraine

This is just a set of links, begun on Feb 25, 2022, to provide “entry points” for those interested in the war in Ukraine. I  created it for students in my Spring 2022 course University of Oregon PS205: Intro to International Relations course … others are welcome to use it if they find it helpful.

Some questions that International Relations theory can help us think about are:

  • What caused this war to start?
  • What role does military power play in the outcome of the war?  What about economic power?  What about the power of ideas?
  • What roles do gender, ethnicity, and race play in who is fighting the war, whose security is being protected, and how other nations respond?

A note on critical thinking: When reading ANYTHING (on Ukraine or anything else), make sure the information is “credible,” that is, that the writer/speaker has “expertise” (knows the truth) and “trustworthiness” (will tell you the truth). Don’t use information from people who lack expertise or lack trustworthiness. That goes for ALL these links — I believe most of these links are to “credible” sources BUT I provide NO assurance that they are. And, to be sure, each has a “perspective.” I hope these are helpful, however.

Links

Commentaries that I found useful from VERY early in the Russian invasion of Ukraine: