Ukraine transformed – a Ukrainian American scholar's view

Special newsletter: Ukraine war, 1 year on US Edition - Today's top story: I am a Ukrainian American political scientist, and this is what the past year of war has taught me about Ukraine, Russia and defiance [View in browser]( US Edition | 23 February 2023 [The Conversation] [The Conversation]( Lena Surzhko Harned is a political scientist at Penn State. She’s also Ukrainian. So, when The Conversation editors began to discuss stories we wanted to commission to mark one year of Russia’s war on Ukraine, I wanted Surzhko Harned to [write one of them](. We’ve covered the war from many angles over this past year – the history behind it, the technology used in it, the ideology that drives it. Surzhko Harned studies the political views and attitudes of different generations of people in Ukraine and Russia. She could easily have written a story for us based solely on her academic specialty. But I felt she could offer an even greater understanding of the war to our readers. I asked if she would write a story that reflected on her personal experience of it, as well as provide her scholarly observations. It was an unorthodox idea, but Surzhko Harned agreed to try. As she wrote in a tweet after we published the story, “This was one of the hardest essays I hoped to never write.” But her difficult assignment produced a story that’s both analytical and goes straight to the heart. Over 8 million Ukrainians have fled their homeland during this past year of war – some of them landed in Surzhko Harned’s home. “[To me,” she writes, “these are not just numbers.]( My family and friends are among them. I am a Ukrainian American political scientist. As a specialist in Eastern Europe, I have evaluated this war over the past year from my professional perspective. Yet, this war is also deeply personal.” On New Year’s Eve, Surzhko Harned and her relatives sat around her kitchen table, watching President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on YouTube. “We hid tears from each other,” she writes. “As a political scientist, I harbor no illusions that this war will end soon. There are expectations of a new Russian offensive.” But, she says, “Like so many Ukrainians, we brace for the future – and trust in victory.” This is a special edition of our weekly politics newsletter. To subscribe to it or our other weekly newsletters, [please sign up here](. Naomi Schalit Democracy Editor Russian President Putin thought he would overrun Ukraine in a few days. These military volunteers and fellow Ukrainians ‘had other ideas,’ writes the author. Mykhaylo Palinchak/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images [I am a Ukrainian American political scientist, and this is what the past year of war has taught me about Ukraine, Russia and defiance]( Lena Surzhko Harned, Penn State For a scholar who studies how different generations reacted to the end of the Soviet empire, the war in Ukraine is a collision of the professional and the personal. President Jimmy Carter, right, surrounded by journalists after announcing he was lifting the travel ban on Cuba, Vietnam, North Korea and Cambodia, March 9, 1977. AP Photo/file [Jimmy Carter’s lasting Cold War legacy: Human rights focus helped dismantle the Soviet Union]( Robert C. Donnelly, Gonzaga University President Jimmy Carter’s foreign policy efforts may have been far more effective than critics have claimed. Ukraine war [When there are no words: Translating wartime trauma in Ukraine]( Greta Uehling, University of Michigan Trauma can affect how people remember and describe experiences. Many survivors express their pain through objects and physical symptoms, an anthropologist explains. [Ukraine war has exposed the folly – and unintended consequences – of ‘armed missionaries’]( Ronald Suny, University of Michigan A year into the war in Ukraine, a historian reflects on how it has affected the geopolitical environment. [How Putin has shrugged off unprecedented economic sanctions over Russia’s war in Ukraine – for now]( Peter Rutland, Wesleyan University The US and dozens of other nations have punished Russia with round after round of sanctions – yet the Russian economy is expected to grow in 2023. [Ukraine has a mixed record of treating its citizens fairly – that could make it harder for it to maintain peace, once war ends]( David Cingranelli, Binghamton University, State University of New York; Brendan Skip Mark, University of Rhode Island New data from 2000 through 2019 shows that Ukraine’s human rights record is better than Russia’s – but worse than that of its Western European neighbors. [Drones over Ukraine: What the war means for the future of remotely piloted aircraft in combat]( Roberto J. González, San José State University The war in Ukraine has dramatically increased the use of drones in warfare, from repurposed consumer quadcopters to flying bombs to remotely piloted warplanes. [War in Ukraine accelerates global drive toward killer robots]( James Dawes, Macalester College The technology exists to build autonomous weapons. How well they would work and whether they could be adequately controlled are unknown. The Ukraine war has only turned up the pressure. [Ukrainians’ commitment to fight off Russia grows stronger, as does their expectation of victory, as war enters second year]( Tatsiana Kulakevich, University of South Florida Since Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014, more and more Ukrainians say that they feel pride for their country. [The war in Ukraine hasn’t left Europe freezing in the dark, but it has caused energy crises in unexpected places]( Amy Myers Jaffe, New York University Russia tried to weaponize energy to keep European nations from opposing its war in Ukraine, but the real pain from Putin’s actions and Western sanctions has been felt far from Europe. - [Russia announces its suspension from last nuclear arms agreement with the US, escalating nuclear tension]( Nina Srinivasan Rathbun, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences Putin’s announcement to Russia will no longer participate in the New START pauses the last remaining nuclear weapons agreement between the U.S. and Russia. - [Violent extremists are not lone wolves – dispelling this myth could help reduce violence]( Alexander Hinton, Rutgers University - Newark The lone wolf metaphor used to describe mass shooters misinforms views of extremists – and law enforcement efforts to deter the violence. - [First ladies from Martha Washington to Jill Biden have gotten outsized attention for their clothing instead of their views]( Nichola D. Gutgold, Penn State On Presidents Day, a women in politics scholar examines the meaning, and sometimes outsized focus, on first ladies’ fashion choices. - [Do we need political parties? In theory, they’re the sort of organization that could bring Americans together in larger purpose]( Maurizio Valsania, Università di Torino Americans are not the first to fret over the potential harm that parties can inflict. But parties can also promote the common interest. - - More of The Conversation Like this newsletter? You might be interested in our weekly and biweekly emails: • [Weekly Highlights]( • [Science Editors' Picks]( • [This Week in Religion]( • [Politics Weekly]( • [Global Perspectives]( • [Global Economy & Business]( Trying out new social media? Follow us: • [Mastodon]( • [Post.news]( • [Instagram]( • [LinkedIn]( - - About The Conversation We're a nonprofit news organization dedicated to [helping academic experts share ideas with the public](. 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