#   Russia and Ukraine: Entangled Histories, Diverging States 

 



    ![Ukrainian soldier standing in the middle of the road near Irpin](/sites/g/files/omnuum4931/files/styles/hwp_5_4__480x385/public/2025-04/shevel-web-1200x600.png?itok=k5mOv1nN) 

 



 

####  calendar\_today Date and Time 

 **July 17, 2024** 

 05:00PM - 06:30PM EDT 

####  pin\_drop Location 

 **CGIS-Knafel/North Building, 3rd Floor, Room K-354, 1737 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA 02138**  



 

 [ Watch on YouTube arrow\_circle\_right ](https://www.youtube.com/live/EB95fCk9tgw) 

 



 

#### A book talk by [**Oxana Shevel**](https://huri.harvard.edu/people/oxana-shevel), Associate Professor Political Science, Tufts University.

Moderated by [**Emily Channell-Justice**](https://huri.harvard.edu/people/emily-channell-justice), Director of the Temerty Contemporary Ukraine Program at the Ukrainian Research Institute, Harvard University

**IN-PERSON and ONLINE** via Zoom Webinar (live). Registration is required to attend online.

## About the Book

   ![book_cover.jpg](/sites/g/files/omnuum4931/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/huri/files/book_cover.jpg?itok=4awQ3E6c) 

 

In February 2022, Russian missiles rained on Ukrainian cities, and tanks rolled towards Kyiv to end Ukrainian independent statehood. President Zelensky declined a Western evacuation offer and Ukrainians rallied to defend their country. What are the roots of this war, which has upended the international legal order and brought back the spectre of nuclear escalation? How did these supposedly “brotherly peoples” become each other’s worst nightmare?

In *Russia and Ukraine: Entangled Histories, Diverging States*, Maria Popova and Oxana Shevel explain how since 1991 Russia and Ukraine diverged politically, ending up on a collision course. Russia slid back into authoritarianism and imperialism, while Ukraine consolidated a competitive political system and pro-European identity. As Ukraine built a democratic nation-state, Russia refused to accept it and came to see it as an “anti-Russia” project. After political and economic pressure proved ineffective, and even counterproductive, Putin went to war to force Ukraine back into the fold of the “Russian world.” Ukraine resisted, determined to pursue European integration as a sovereign state. These irreconcilable goals, rather than geopolitical wrangling between Russia and the West over NATO expansion, are – the authors argue – essential to understanding Russia’s war on Ukraine. \[[Source](https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=russia-and-ukraine-entangled-histories-diverging-states--9781509557363)\]

## About the Speaker

   ![Oxana Shevel](/sites/g/files/omnuum4931/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/huri/files/shevel_250.jpg?itok=YUAgokrv) 

 

Oxana Shevel is an Associate Professor of comparative politics in the Department of Political Science and Director of the International Relations at Tufts University. Her research and teaching focuses on the post-Soviet region, especially Ukraine and Russia, and issues such as nation building and identity politics, citizenship policies, memory politics, church-state relations, and democratization process in the post-Soviet region. Her most recent book (co-authored with Maria Popova) - *Russia and Ukraine: Entangled Histories, Diverging States* (Polity, 2024) - examines the root causes of the Russo-Ukrainian war and locates them in the growing domestic political divergence between Russia and Ukraine post-1991. Her earlier book, *Migration, Refugee Policy, and State Building in Postcommunist Europe* (Cambridge, 2011) examined how the politics of national identity and strategies of the UNHCR shape refugee admission policies in the post-Communist region, leading countries to be more or less receptive to refugees. The book won the American Association of Ukrainian Studies (AAUS) prize for best book in the fields of Ukrainian history, politics, language, literature and culture. Professor Shevel’s research has appeared in a variety of journals, including *Comparative Politics*, *Current History*, *East European Politics and Societies*, *Europe-Asia Studies*, *Geopolitics*, *Journal of Democracy*, *Nationality Papers*, *Post-Soviet Affairs*, *Slavic Review* and in edited volumes. Her policy commentary has appeared in *Foreign Affairs*, *Foreign Policy*, *Just Security*, *Los Angeles Times*, the *Washington Post*, and in other national and international media outlets. Outside of the department, Oxana Shevel serves as Vice President of the Association for the Study of Nationalities (ASN) and of the American Association for Ukrainian Studies (AAUS). She’s a country expert on Ukraine for Global Citizenship Observatory (GLOBALCIT), a member of PONARS Eurasia scholarly networks, and a board member of the Shevchenko Scientific Society (NTShA). She's also an associate of the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute and the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University. Outside of academia, she has served as a consultant for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and for the US Department of State, and has provided expert testimony on applications for asylum in US courts. Professor Shevel holds a PhD in Government from Harvard University, an M.Phil in International Relations from the University of Cambridge in England, and a BA in English and French from Kyiv State University in Ukraine. \[[Source](https://facultyprofiles.tufts.edu/oxana-shevel)\]

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*This event is organized by Harvard's* [*Ukrainian Research Institute*](https://huri.harvard.edu/) *(HURI) as part of the HUSI Public Lecture Series and the* [*Temerty Contemporary Ukraine Program*](https://huri.harvard.edu/temerty-contemporary-ukraine-program)*.*

*Persons with disabilities who wish to request accommodations or who have questions about access, please contact Megan Duncan Smith, HURI Programs Coordinator, at* [*duncansmith@fas.harvard.edu*](mailto:duncansmith@fas.harvard.edu) *at least two weeks in advance of the session.*

*Watch videos of past HURI events on our* [*YouTube Channel*](https://www.youtube.com/user/huriyt) *and* [*subscribe*](https://web.lists.fas.harvard.edu/mailman/lists/huri-events-list.lists.fas.harvard.edu/) *to our email list to receive announcements about events and other activities.*



 

 



 

 See also:- [ HUSI Public Lecture ](/event-type/husi-public-lecture)
- [ Harvard Ukrainian Summer Institute ](/program/harvard-ukrainian-summer-institute)
- [ Temerty Contemporary Ukraine Program ](/program/temerty-contemporary-ukraine-program)
- [ 2024 ](/husi-year/2024)
 
 

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