You say you want a revolution…

Some light reading for April 1

We cannot begin to summarize everything that is being discussed both in print and online about the on-going situation in Ukraine, but we do have a few links below that should help set the table for our discussion on Tuesday. Don’t feel like you have to get through everything. However, a multiple choice quiz will be passed out at the end of the evening, with an essay for extra credit!

OUR GUEST: OLEG KOBTZEFF

Prof. Kobtzeff is a regular contributor on France 24. You can watch some of his appearances in both French and English, including roundtables focused on the situation in Ukraine, on his blog. He also recently published this piece on the website Opinion Internationale.

OUR LINKS

Ukraine

A Timeline

Understanding Ukraine

Why they look West – Ukraine, poverty and the EU

Russia

 

You say you want a revolution…

UKRAINE AND THE FATE OF POPULAR REVOLT IN OUR WORLD TODAY

A special guest for April 1

To help focus and inform our discussion on the on-going situation in Ukraine we are pleased to announce that we will be joined by Oleg Kobtzeff, an assistant professor of international and comparative politics at the American University of Paris.

Professor Kobtzeff is Franco-American and has family ties to both Ukraine and Russia. His work focuses on a wide range of geopolitical issues, including Russia’s political and social history and its relations with the United States.

You say you want a revolution…

Coming up: April 1, 2014

And all eyes turn to Ukraine.

When we started thinking about the topic for our next event we found ourselves gazing at Ukraine, Venezuela and Thailand and pondering the state of revolution in our world today. Popular revolts are increasingly challenging governments around the world, and when general anger combines with social media it doesn’t seem all that difficult to get tens, even hundred of thousands into the streets. But real revolution that overthrows a government and then smoothly transitions to something better and lasting is truly hard. Look at the Arab Spring, especially Egypt and Syria.