Reading list: the Russian invasion of Ukraine
15 articles, book reviews and blogposts on the Russia–Ukraine war and Russian strategy from International Affairs
As we approach the one year mark since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the ultimate cost and long-term implications of the conflict remain uncertain. In this reading list, we bring together a collection of articles, book reviews and blogposts published since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. Focused around themes from the balance of power and information warfare to Russian grand strategy and the West’s response, the following 15 sources shed light on the many dimensions of the war’s causes and consequences.
The balance of power
Article: Russian ‘deniable’ intervention in Ukraine: how and why Russia broke the rules
Roy Allison — November 2014
Roy Allison investigated the factors underpinning Russia’s annexation of Crimea and creation of separatist enclaves in Donetsk and Luhansk.
Article: The Budapest Memorandum and Russia’s intervention in Ukraine
David S. Yost — May 2015
David Yost outlined why the Budapest Memorandum, which saw Ukraine give up its nuclear weapons at the end of the Cold War failed, and the implications of this for international order.
Russian strategy and doctrine
Article: Russian hybrid warfare and extended deterrence in eastern Europe
Alexander Lanoszka — January 2016
Alexander Lanoszka outlined how Russia used a combination of insurgency tactics and conventional military deterrence to achieve its objectives in the Donbass as part of a wider hybrid warfare strategy.
Book review: Strategiya: the foundations of the Russian art of strategy
Edited by Ofer Freedman and published in London in 2021 by Hurst Publishers.
Augusto C. Dall’Agnol reviews this momentous edited volume on some of the key historical influences on Russian strategic thought.
Book review: Russian ‘hybrid warfare’ and the annexation of Crimea: the modern application of Soviet political warfare
Written by Kent DeBenedictis and published by Bloomsbury in 2021.
Marina Miron reviews this detailed analysis of Russian hybrid warfare and its relation to Soviet military and political strategy.
Blogpost: What happened to Vladimir Putin?
Juliet Kaarbo — March 2022
Juliet Kaarbo investigates how the pressures faced by long-term authoritarian leaders might have influenced Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine.
Book review: The Russian military intervention in Syria
Written by Ohannes Geukjian and Published in Montreal by McGill-Queen’s University Press in 2022 .
Diana Galeeva analyses this innovative use of social psychology and social anthropology to understand Russia’s actions in Syria.
Propaganda and information warfare
Article: State, media and civil society in the information warfare over Ukraine: citizen curators of digital disinformation
Yevgeniy Golovchenko, Mareike Hartmann and Rebecca Adler-Nissen — 2018
Yevgeniy Golovchenko, Mareike Hartmann and Rebecca Adler-Nissen examined the use of political misinformation in the aftermath of the shooting down of MH17 and analysed the role of citizens in disseminating political misinformation.
Article: The 2020 Belarusian presidential election and conspiracy theories in the Russo-Ukrainian conflict
Michael Gentile and Martin Kragh — May 2022
Writing on the basis of survey research conducted in Mariupol in 2020, Michael Gentile and Martin Kragh investigated how Russia used conspiracy theories as part of its information strategy in response to the 2020 Belarusian presidential election.
Blogpost: Do memes matter for the Russia–Ukraine war?
Ilan Manor — 13 July 2022
Ilan Manor outlines the advantages and limitations of memes as communication tools in the Russia–Ukraine war.
The West’s response
Article: The false promise of continental concert: Russia, the West and the necessary balance of power
Sten Rynning — May 2015
Sten Rynning examined how attempts to seek accommodation with Russia in the European security order backfired.
Article: From Ostpolitik to ‘frostpolitik’? Merkel, Putin and German foreign policy towards Russia
Tuomas Forsberg — January 2016
Thomas Forsberg assessed the shifts in German foreign policy under Angela Merkel triggered by Russia’s occupation of Crimea and what they meant in the context of wider Germany–Russia relations.
Article: American intelligence on Ukraine
James Lockhart and Christopher R. Moran — March 2022
James Lockhart and Christopher R. Moran show how President Joe Biden’s approach to intelligence impacts US policies on Ukraine.
Article: Breaking with convention? Zeitenwende and the traditional pillars of German foreign policy
Bernhard Blumenau — November 2022
Bernhard Blumenau analysed Germany’s response and the watershed moment the invasion represented for Germany’s role in international politics
Article: The EU and the invasion of Ukraine: a collective responsibility to act?
Heidi Maurer, Richard G. Whitman and Nicholas Wright — 2023
Writing in this year’s January issue, Heidi Maurer, Richard Whitman and Nicholas Wright discuss the invasion’s implications for the fundamental principles of European foreign policy-making.
All views expressed are individual not institutional.
