Registration REQUIRED by 4pm on October 27, 2025 in order to attend this event.
Please join the Program on U.S.-Russia Relations for a talk by Paul Stephan. Moderated by Matthew Murray.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 provoked fury and broad condemnation. It seems as clear an instance of evil versus good and international lawlessness in international relations as we have seen in some time. Yet Russia has not been repulsed, even if it has not achieved its objectives, and the economic sanctions imposed by the West produced mostly short-term pain. The ambiguity of the Trump administration’s position on the war certainly has not helped. Where are the consequences of this outrageous act?
The answer is that Russia has done terrible, perhaps irreversible harm to its position as a regional power. It will face a geopolitical and geoeconomic reckoning, although it may take five to ten years for the real costs to be manifest. This talk will give an account of this reckoning and will reflect more generally on the efficacy of international law and the liberal international order as a means of disciplining powerful states.
