Ukraine, Russia and the US - LJMU and BISA US Foreign Policy symposium
The symposium will provide a first-cut assessment of the implications of the invasion for narratives of the preceding three decades of US foreign policy towards Russia, and our understanding of the future of the West's relationships with Putin's Russia, and authoritarian powers more widely. We look forward to seeing you for the first USFP Working Group in-person event since 2019.
Programme
09:30-10:30 registration and drinks
10:30-12:00 session 1: Ukraine, US and Russia
Student Life Building (SLB) room 205
Chair: Trevor McCrisken (Warwick)
1. Distorting fundamental norms of international law to resurrect the Soviet Union: the international law context of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by Sofia Cavandoli (LJMU) and Gary Wilson (LJMU).
2. Taking Russia seriously: US foreign policy, Russian ontological security, and the war against Ukraine by Ruth Deyermond (KCL)
3. Anchoring U.S. strategy – Russia’s place in U.S. strategic culture and nuclear policy by Valentina Cassar (Malta)
4. The war in Ukraine amid US-Russia-Ukraine relations by Vitor Fernandes (Lusíada University)
5. Understanding Congressional Narratives and US Public Opinion on the Ukraine War by Jonny Hall (LSE)
6. Public Diplomacy: US Credibility vs. Kremlin Propaganda in the Russo-Ukrainian War by Carl Mirra (Adelphi)
12:00-1:15 lunch
Student Life Building (SLB) room 205
1:15-2:45 roundtable: The Russian invasion of Ukraine and its impact on international and domestic politics
Student Life Building (SLB) room 205
Chair: Matthew Alan Hill (LJMU)
Participants are Ruth Deyermond (KCL), Trevor McCrisken (Warwick), Alexander Evans (LSE and FCDO), Maria Ryan (Nottingham).
2:45-3:15 tea break
3:15-4:45 session 2a: conceptualising US foreign policy
Student Life Building (SLB) room 205
Chair: Jan Andre Ludvigsen (LJMU)
1. What is Great Power Competition? By Nick Kitchen (Surrey).
2. Constructivism, narratology, and the protagonist: US foreign policy in Syria – beyond identity binaries, towards narrative power by Jack Holland (University of Leeds) and Xavier Mathieu (University of Liverpool).
3. The US-China ‘tech war’: Decoupling and the Case of Huawei by Maria Ryan (Nottingham) and Steve Burman (Sussex)
4. Mr Wilson goes to Kiev by Ashley Cox (SOAS)
3:15-4:45 session 2b: US foreign policy in practice
Student Life Building (SLB) room 204
Chair: TBD
1. The infrastructure of democracy promotion: democratisation and US national security from Bush to Biden by Robert Pee (Reading)
2. Afghanistan: Transatlantic lessons learnt from 20 years of democracy, development and security by Osman Hassan (Warwick)
3. US corporate elite decision-making in the occupation of Iraq – from subverting democracy to Shifting regional and global power dynamics by Bamo Nouri (UWL)
4. Coups, narcos, and terrorists: norm contestation and the ban on assassination under H. W. Bush and Clinton by Luca Trenta (Swansea)
4:45-5:25 AGM
Further information about the topic and purpose of the symposium can be found in the call for papers. You can download a copy of the programme below.