The War in Ukraine: Impact and Response

This panel discussion, organised by the School of Social Sciences and the Centre of the Study of Democracy, takes stock of the war and its impact in both Russia and Ukraine. It explores the international response to the conflict and reflects on potential ways forward. The panel discussion concludes with a reception and the photography exhibition Symptoms of War: Political Life in Russia after February 24, 2022 by Denis Skopin.

Panellists:

Harald Binder, Founder of the Centre for Urban History of East Central Europe

Roland Dannreuther, Professor in International Relations, University of Westminster

Keshini Navaratnam, International Broadcaster and Global Media Expert; long-time BBC World TV News Anchor

Denis Skopin, Visiting Scholar, Bard College Berlin/Smolny Beyond Borders Initiative

Chair: Magdalena Frennhoff Larsén, Associate Professor in Politics and International Relations, University of Westminster

Information about the Panellists:

Harald Binder earned his PhD in History and economics from Bern University. His main research interests and publications are in the areas of the history of East Central Europe in the 19th/20th century; Galicia under Habsburg rule; and cities, media and the public sphere in the transition to modernity. As a cultural entrepreneur, he is the founder of the Centre for Urban History of East Central Europe (2004), Harald Binder Cultural Enterprises (2015), and Jam Factory Art Centre (2017).

Roland Dannreuther is Professor of International Relations at the University of Westminster. His research specialism includes international security studies, the international politics of energy, and the regional politics of Russia, Central Asia, and the Middle East. His main recent publications include Handbook on Oil and International Relations (co-edited with Wojciech Ostrowski), (Cheltenham: Edgar Elgar, 2022), Energy Security (Cambridge: Polity, 2017), Russia and Islam: State, Society and Radicalism (co-edited with Luke March) (London: Routledge, 2010), International Security: The Contemporary Agenda (Cambridge: Polity, 2007).

Kashini Navaratnam is a familiar face to many people around the globe as a long-time BBC World TV news anchor. She is a global communications and international media expert with a passion for foreign affairs. She has been the first port of call for several governments, global businesses and CEOs on international affairs and communications issues including profile development, reputation and crisis management and preparing political and business leaders for engagement at the World Economic Forum in Davos, G8 and G20 discussions and UN sessions.

Denis Skopin earned his Ph.D. in philosophy from Paris 8 University. He has held research positions, including serving as Research Director at the Maison des Sciences de l’Homme (Paris), and was Professor at the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences, St. Petersburg University. His research focuses on photography studies, political philosophy, and the circulation of photographs under dictatorships and authoritarian regimes. He is the author of numerous articles and three monographs, most recently Photography and Political Repressions in Stalin’s Russia: Defacing the Enemy (Routledge, 2022).

Magdalena Frennhoff Larsén is Associate Professor in Politics and International Relations at the University of Westminster. Her research interests are in the areas of EU external relations and international negotiations, and she has produced articles on these topics for leading journals, including Comparative European Politics, Journal of Common Market Studies, Journal of European Public Policy and International Negotiation. Her book The EU in International Negotiations was published by Palgrave in 2023. She was recently Visiting Fellow at Sciences Po, Paris.