MONMOUTH, ILLINOIS (February 7, 2023) — The impact of Russia's nearly twelve-month war in Ukraine has rippled across the globe, with dire consequences not only for the Ukrainian people but also energy markets, food security, and international trade. The war has reinvigorated Western alliances, shaken up relationships among post-Soviet states, caused tension with states of the Global South, and raised concern about the role of China in international crises.
On February 15, as part of a series on Foreign Policy in Practice sponsored by the Associated Colleges of the Midwest and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, ACM members Monmouth College and Knox College will host a panel discussion titled "Russia's War in Ukraine at One Year." Also available via Zoom, the discussion will be held at 7PM in Room 302 of Knox's Alumni Hall. It is free and open to the public.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, a year after it began a troop build-up on the Russian-Ukraine border. Since the war began, more than 100,000 troops on each side have been killed and at least 30,000 civilians have died, according to US media reports.
Led by moderator Michael Nelson, co-chair of Monmouth's political science department and director of its Center for Civic and Social Change, panelists Katie Stewart and Elizabeth Shackelford will discuss how different countries have responded to the war, why they have responded the way they have, and what the trajectory might look like in the year to come. Stewart is an assistant professor of political science at Knox, and Shackelford is a senior fellow of US foreign policy at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.
A former foreign service officer with the US State Department, Shackelford will also be featured at a special program at 6PM, February 14, at the Wordsmith Bookshoppe, 235 E Main St, Galesburg. She will discuss her book, The Dissent Channel: American Diplomacy in a Dishonest Age, winner of the 2020 Douglas Dillon Book Award, which is an account of her assignment in South Sudan.
Earlier that day, she will be on Monmouth's campus to lead a career session on being a foreign diplomat and meet with a class to discuss foreign affairs issues, including the challenges of working with authoritarian governments.
The February 15 panel discussion will double as Monmouth College's Great Decisions event for the week. On February 22, it will return to campus at its normal time and place, 7:30PM, Wednesdays, in Room 276 of the College's Center for Science and Business.
The panel
Nelson's research focuses on the international relations of African states, including their participation in global governance, their foreign relations — especially with China — and environmental politics in the region. He is interested in understanding how and why different parts of the world get along with each other with the challenges of poverty and inequality and the incredible varieties of cultures.
Shackelford's analysis, writing, and outreach focus on building awareness and understanding of a "restraint" approach to foreign policy, which seeks to limit the use of military force to the defense of core US national-security interests and favors robust diplomatic engagement. As a foreign service officer, Shackelford served in Somalia, Kenya, and Washington DC, in addition to South Sudan, tracking political and conflict developments, advising mission and Washington leadership, and advocating for US interests with foreign counterparts.
Stewart's research and teaching interests stem from a fascination with how national identities come to be so strongly held and contested. Her current research project examines how the Putin administration uses nationalism as a strategy for bolstering its legitimacy and popular support in Russia. She explores Putin's legitimating nationalism through a comparison of symbolic politics in three of Russia's ethnic republics based on fieldwork observations and interviews. She also uses survey data to evaluate this strategy's effectiveness in increasing regime legitimacy.
