882 AD: THE ORIGINS OF PUTIN’S UKRAINIAN WAR
Chris Danziger, lecturer
Saturday 21 January
10.00 am–12.00 pm
COURSE FEES R220
Putin and his inner circle claim that Russians and Ukrainians are one people, that Ukraine is a temporary and illogical historical aberration, and that its very existence poses a threat to Russia’s security and sovereignty. Setting aside our revulsion at Putin’s corrupt, brutal and tyrannical regime, this double lecture will assess what merit, if any, there may be in Putin’s assertions, and how they shaped the thinking behind his Ukrainian war.
Lecture titles
1. Ukraine: nation or creation
2. Putin’s war: plunder or blunder?
Recommended reading
Plokhy, S. 2017. Lost Kingdom. New York: Basic Books.
Plokhy, S. 2016. The Gates of Europe. Penguin. New York: Basic Books.
Reid, A. 1997. Borderland. London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson.