The Ellison Center at the University of Washington

The Ellison Center presents the panel "The Future of Nagorno-Karabakh: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Peacebuilding and Development in the South Caucasus" on April 29, 2021. This panel was part of the virtual 2021 REECAS Northwest Conference. Find more information about the conference here: https://jsis.washington.edu/ellisoncenter/reecas-nw/ Following the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh during the fall of 2020, what comes next for the region? This roundtable brings together an interdisciplinary panel of experts to discuss the opportunities and uncertainties created by the ceasefire, the prospects for building a lasting peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and potential ways to foster economic and social development in Nagorno-Karabakh and the broader South Caucasus. Organizer and Moderator: – Jeanene Mitchell, PhD, Visiting Scholar, Ellison Center, University of Washington Panelists: – Arman Grigoryan, Associate Professor of International Relations, Lehigh University – Fariz Huseynov, Professor of Finance and Faculty Fellow, Challey Institute for Global Innovation and Growth, North Dakota State University – Emin Milli, Founder, Restart Initiative This panel and the 2021 REECAS Northwest Conference, an ASEEES Regional Conference, is organized by the Ellison Center for Russian, East European, and Central Asian Studies at the University of Washington, Seattle.

Conor O'Dwyer presents his book talk "Coming Out of Communism: The Emergence of LGBT Activism in Eastern Europe" on Nov. 8, 2019 at the University of Washington, Seattle. This book talk is a part of the Ellison Center's "1989 30th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall" lecture series. While LGBT activism has increased worldwide, there has been strong backlash against LGBT people
 in Eastern Europe. Although Russia is the most prominent anti-gay regime in the region, LGBT individuals in other post-communist countries also suffer from discriminatory laws and prejudiced social institutions. Combining an historical overview with interviews and case studies in Poland, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic, Conor O’Dwyer analyzes the development and impact of LGBT movements in post-communist Eastern and Central Europe. He argues that backlash against LGBT individuals has had the paradoxical effect of encouraging stronger and more organized activism, significantly impacting the social movement landscape in the region. As Eastern and Central European countries vie for inclusion or at least recognition in the increasingly LGBT-friendly European Union, activist groups and organizations have become even more emboldened to push for change. Using fieldwork in five countries, O’Dwyer explores the intricacies of these LGBT social movements and their structures, functions, and impact while also considering their ability to serve as models for future movements attempting to resist backlash. Conor O’Dwyer (Ph.D., UC Berkeley, 2003) is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Florida. He specializes in comparative politics, with a thematic focus on LGBT politics, social movements, democratization, and the state and a regional emphasis on East Central Europe and the European Union. He is the author of Coming Out of Communism: The Emergence of LGBT Activism in Eastern Europe (New York University Press, 2018) and Runaway State-Building: Patronage Politics and Democratic Development (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006). In addition to his time at the University of Florida, he has been an Academy Scholar at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University and a Visiting Scholar at the Center for Baltic and East European Studies at Södertörn University in Sweden. This lecture is sponsored by the Ellison Center for Russian, East European, and Central Asian Studies at the University of Washington, Seattle.

The University of Washington presents the panel, "The Politics of Memory in Eastern Europe, Ukraine and Russia 30 Years After the Berlin Wall" on Nov. 7, 2019. Panelists: Conor O'Dwyer, Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Florida Laada Bilaniuk, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Washington William Hill, Global Fellow at the Kennan Institute and former U.S. State Department Scott Radnitz, Associate Professor and Ellison Center Director at the University of Washington (Chair) The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 was supposed to give rise to a "Europe Whole and Free." Today, the idea of a united Europe is under severe threat. At a time of rising authoritarianism, struggles over how to study, remember, and move past the Communist era are central to the political futures of countries east of the Iron Curtain. Our panel of three experts discuss the politics of history and identity in Poland, Czechia, Ukraine, and Russia. This panel is organized by the Ellison Center for Russian, East European, and Central Asian Studies at the University of Washington, Seattle.

Dr. William H. Hill presents his book talk, "No Place for Russia: European Security Institutions Since 1989" from his book of the same title, published by Columbia University Press. This lecture was given on Nov. 6, 2019 at the University of Washington. This lecture is part of the 1989 30th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall series, organized by the Ellison Center of Russian, East European, and Central Asian Studies. The optimistic vision of a “Europe whole and free” after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 has given way to disillusionment, bitterness, and renewed hostility between Russia and the West. In No Place for Russia, William H. Hill traces the development of the post–Cold War European security order to explain today’s tensions, showing how attempts to integrate Russia into a unified Euro-Atlantic security order were gradually overshadowed by the domination of NATO and the EU—at Russia’s expense. William H. Hill is professor emeritus of national security strategy at the National War College in Washington and a retired foreign service officer who served in various posts in Europe, the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of Defense, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He is a Global Fellow at the Kennan Institute.

Dennis Deletant presents his lecture, "The Fall of Communism in Romania: A BBC Journalist's Perspective" on Oct. 29, 2019 at the University of Washington, Seattle. The lecture covers the fall of communism in Romania from the point of view of a BBC reporter and first-hand witness of the events, honoring the invitation of the UW Ellison Center and American Romanian Cultural Society. Dennis Deletant is currently the Ion Ratiu Visiting Professor of Romanian Studies at Georgetown University in Washington DC., and Emeritus Professor of the School of Slavonic and East European Studies at University College in London. With an impressive academic activity in UK, Holland, and the USA, Dennis Deletant has contributed seminal studies on twentieth century Romanian history and politics, 1940s labor camps in Transnistria, the “Bessarabia question”, the Soviet influence on Romanian communism, language policy in Soviet Moldova, as well as the place of Romania in Eastern Europe today. His books Ceausescu and the Securitate: Coercion and Dissent in Romania, 1965-89 (1995), Communist Terror in Romania: Gheorghiu-Dej and the Police State, 1948-65 (1999), Hitler's Forgotten Ally. Ion Antonescu and His Regime, Romania 1940-1944 (2006), and British Clandestine Activities in Romania during the Second World War (2016) have changed Romanian historiography by opening it up to an interdisciplinary approach. For example, in Ceausescu and the Securitate, he takes a cultural studies approach to address the issue of Romanian identity as a propaganda instrument that was supposed to deter any protest which could have “destabilized” the unity of the state. In the same book, he incorporated a detailed report on Romanian literary debates in order to unveil the deception cultivated by some literary critics and poets, avid supporters of the communist regime. For Dennis Deletant, culture and diplomacy are intertwined as he proves when examining British - Romanian relationships in early 1940s in his 2016 book. He did not avoid controversial figures of Romanian history like Marshall Antonescu who led Romania during WWII in fighting alongside Germany. By close reading documents, Deletant is using fine lines in portraying Antonescu and his regime: Antonescu, in the author’s opinion, was not a fascist although an anti-Semitic, while his regime was not dictatorial, but rather authoritarian. His exceptional insight into the aftermath of the war reveals another set of paradoxes, this time in the personality of the first Romanian communist leader Gheorghiu-Dej who succeeded in ascending to power in spite of his ethnic origin, social status, and lack of political expertise. The most awaited book, Romania under Communism. Paradox and Degeneration (2019), is a synthesis of his scholarship, a culmination of his research, in perfect coherence with his argument about Romania’s exceptional place among the countries of the former communist bloc and the unexpected course of events in the aftermath of the 1989 revolution. This talk is hosted by the UW Ellison Center for Russian, East European and Central Asian Studies and the American Romanian Cultural Society.

Dr. Laura Dean presents her lecture, "Political Ethnography with a Gender Lens in the Latvian Parliament" on March 1st, 2021. This lecture is part of Talking Gender in the EU, a lecture series covering gender politics in Poland, Latvia, France, and the European Parliament. The European Union has set impressive standards on gender equality, providing legal frameworks for equal pay, investing in work/life balance and childcare, and allowing for positive action to advance equal treatment of women across member states. At the same time, Europe witnesses considerable backlash from anti-gender activists and rightwing reactionary movements, calling into question gender equality as a core norm of European democracies. This lecture series investigates actors, institutions, and policies in the area of gender in Eastern and Western Europe, the Baltics, and on the EU level. This lecture series is organized by the Center for West European Studies and the Jean Monnet Center of Excellence with support from the Lee and Stuart Scheingold European Studies Fund, the EU Erasmus+ Program, the Ellison Center for Russian, East European and Central Asian Studies, and the Center for Global Studies. Laura A. Dean is an Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the Human Trafficking Research Lab at Millikin University. She is also a Regional Faculty Associate at the Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. In 2016, she was a Title VIII Summer Research Scholar at the Kennan Institute part of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. She received her Ph.D. in political science from the University of Kansas and an M.A. in International Studies focusing on Russian, East European, and Central Asian Studies from the Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington. Dr. Dean researches gender and politics issues focusing on women’s representation, public policy, and gender-based violence in Eurasia. Her book Diffusing Human Trafficking Policy in Eurasia was published by Policy Press at the University of Bristol in May 2020.

This panel discussion features the following speakers: Dr. Philip Gamaghelyan, Assistant Professor, Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies, University of San Diego Dr. Resat Kasaba, Ann H.H. and Kenneth B. Pyle Professor of U.S. Foreign Policy, Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington Dr. Kamal Makili-Aliyev, Senior Lecturer, Department of Global Political Studies, Malmö University; affiliated researcher, Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law Moderator: Dr. Scott Radnitz, Herbert Ellison Associate Professor of Russian and Eurasian Studies, University of Washington On September 27, 2020, nearly three decades of conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh escalated into full-scale war. Forty-four days later, on November 10th, a Russian-brokered ceasefire agreement between the two countries brought a formal end to fighting. Seven districts surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh returned to Azerbaijani control, as well as part of Nagorno-Karabakh itself. According to the agreement, Russian peacekeepers have been dispatched to the region for five years (with the possibility of extension), economic and transportation links are to be unblocked, and internally displaced persons and refugees are to be given the right of return. Yet the legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh remains undefined, and the agreement is not a formal peace treaty. In the midst of this new status quo, what comes next for Nagorno-Karabakh? This panel discusses the reasons for and outcomes of the recent war between Armenia and Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as the remaining questions surrounding the ceasefire agreement between the two countries. Panelists also discuss the changing geopolitics and geopolitical actors in the region, including the role of Turkey and the Minsk Group countries, and the necessary elements for building a sustainable peace in Nagorno-Karabakh. This talk is hosted by the Ellison Center for Russian, East European, and Central Asian Studies, with the Jackson School of International Studies, at the University of Washington.

Prominent Russian environmental activist Evgeniya Chirikova (who begins speaking at minute 6:30) discusses recent environmental and political protests in Russia and the awakening of civil society both in Moscow and elsewhere in the country. This talk took place on October 21, 2019 at the University of Washington's Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies with the generous support of the Henry M. Jackson Foundation.

Kennan Institute Deputy Director William Pomeranz is interviewed by Ellison Center Director Scott Radnitz at the 2019 REECAS Northwest Conference (ASEEES) about his book "Law and the Russian State: Russia’s Legal Evolution from Peter the Great to Putin." From the publisher: "Russia is often portrayed as a regressive, even lawless country, and yet the Russian state has played a major role in shaping and experimenting with law as an instrument of power. In Law and the Russian State, William E. Pomeranz examines Russia's legal evolution from Peter the Great to Vladimir Putin, addressing the continuities and disruptions of Russian law during the imperial, Soviet, and post-Soviet. The book covers key themes, including: * Law and empire * Law and modernization * The politicization of law * The role of intellectuals and dissidents in mobilizing the law * The evolution of Russian legal institutions * The struggle for human rights * The rule-of-law * The quest to establish the law-based state It also analyzes legal culture and how Russians understand and use the law. With a detailed bibliography, this is an important text for anyone seeking a sophisticated understanding of how Russian society and the Russian state have developed in the last 350 years." https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/law-and-the-russian-state-9781474224246/

Timothy Snyder is the Richard C. Levin Professor of History at Yale University, a member of the Committee on Conscience of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and a permanent fellow of the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna. His book, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century (Tim Duggan Books; February 28, 2017), has resonated with a world-wide audience. On Tyranny has been published in over a dozen countries and is a #1 New York Times Bestseller. His latest book is The Road to Unfreedom (Tim Duggan, April 2018). A frequent guest at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna, he has spent about ten years in Europe, and speaks five and reads ten European languages. He is a regular commentator on radio, TV and in print publications, and an award-winning author of books such as Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin and Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning. Snyder received his doctorate from the University of Oxford in 1997, where he was a British Marshall Scholar. Before joining the faculty at Yale in 2001, he held fellowships in Paris, Vienna, and Warsaw, and an Academy Scholarship at Harvard.

Lauren McCarthy is an Associate Professor of Legal Studies at UMass, Amherst. In response to a growing human trafficking problem and domestic and international pressure, human trafficking and the use of slave labor were criminalized in Russia in 2003. In this talk, Lauren McCarthy explains why Russian police, prosecutors, and judges have largely ignored this new weapon in their legal arsenal, despite the fact that the law was intended to make it easier to pursue trafficking cases. Based on her extensive research in Russia, she shows how trafficking cases make their way through the criminal justice system and explains why the system has had a difficult time combating this crime.

Serhii Plokhy is the Mykhailo Hrushevsky Professor of Ukrainian History and the director of the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University. His research interests are in the intellectual, cultural and international history of Ukraine and Eastern Europe in general. His numerous books and other scholarly work deal with history of religion, origins of Slavic nations, history of the Cold War era and collapse of the Soviet Union, and were translated into several languages and won numerous awards. Publisher's abstract from the book Lost Kingdom: In 2014, Russia annexed the Crimea, attempting to seize a portion of Ukraine. While the world watched in outrage, this blatant violation of national sovereignty was only the latest iteration of a centuries-long effort to expand Russian boundaries and create a pan-Russian nation. In Lost Kingdom, award-winning historian Serhii Plokhy reveals the central role Ukraine plays in Russia’s identity, both as an “other” to distinguish Russia, and as part of a pan-Slavic conceptualization used to legitimize territorial expansion and political control. Spanning over 500 years, from the end of the Mongol rule to the present day, Plokhy shows how leaders from Ivan the Terrible to Joseph Stalin to Vladimir Putin exploited existing forms of identity, warfare, and territorial expansion to achieve imperial supremacy. Dr. Plokhy's visit to the University of Washington was made possible by the Ukrainian Studies Initiative in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures.

"Looking Back, Looking Forward" In celebration of 100 years of Independence in the Baltic States, the Scandinavian Studies Department and the Baltic Studies Program at the University of Washington hosted lectures from: Lauri Lepik, Ambassador of Estonia to the USA Andris Teikmanis, Ambassador of Latvia to the USA Evelina Petrone, Political Officer at the Embassy of Lithuania to the USA

Matthew Rojansky is Director of the Kennan Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, DC. He is an expert on U.S. relations with the states of the former Soviet Union, and has advised governments, intergovernmental organizations, and major private actors on conflict resolution and efforts to enhance shared security throughout the Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian region. Dangerously dysfunctional relations between Washington and Moscow have been blamed by the press, pundits and politicians on the failure of U.S. policymakers to properly “read” Vladimir Putin and thus to predict the Kremlin’s supposedly strategic foreign policy agenda. However, rather than attempting to predict Putin’s next move or to de-code the meaning behind personnel shuffles at the Kremlin, policymakers and the analysts who support them would do better to pay more attention to Russia in a much broader sense. From the incompatibility of the “European Project” with the worldview of the country’s ruling elite, to the geopolitical reality Russia faces as a sprawling multi-ethnic state surrounded by dynamic rising powers, to worsening military tensions between Russia and NATO, there are deeper trends that are likely to shape Russian policy regardless of who is in the top job at the Kremlin. An appropriate U.S. strategy to address these challenges will emphasize not only strength and deterrence, but also adroit risk management, dialogue, and leadership by example. In other words, now is not a time to panic about the predictably unpredictable Russian threat, but rather to keep calm and carry on.

Dr. Gerard Toal (Gearóid Ó Tuathail)discusses the current geopolitical antagonism between NATO and Russia. He uses a series of critical geopolitical concepts: geopolitical field, geopolitical culture & geopolitical condition. In doing so, reviews the histories of Russia's invasions of Georgia and Ukraine. Gerard Toal is a Professor in the School of Public and International Affairs at Virginia Tech. He has a Ph. D. in Political Geography from Syracuse University and is an author on over 75 journal articles and 23 book chapters on territorial conflicts, US foreign policy, de facto states, popular culture, media and critical geopolitics. His latest book is Near Abroad: Putin, the West and the Contest for Ukraine and the Caucasus (Oxford University Press, 2017), which is a study of two Russian invasions of neighboring states, Georgia in 2008 and Ukraine in 2014, and the circumstances surrounding these events, including US involvement in both states. His latest NSF research grant will examine geopolitical attitudes in eight different countries on Russia’s borders.