Identity and War: What the Russian War on Ukraine Teaches Us about the Causes of War
Please join the Russia and Eurasia Program at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy for a talk by Professor Yoshiko Herrera who will present cutting-edge perspectives on the sources of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
The full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has reinvigorated debates about the causes of war. The question of why Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale war in 2022 does not seem to be answered by many usual explanations, e.g. material interests or threats to international security. We argue that Russia’s imperial ambitions and sense of Russian national identity heavily shaped Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to launch the full-scale invasion. Hence, one of the challenges for International Relations theory is the need to update and improve our understanding the role of identity in conflict and political violence. In this talk I map out a theoretical framework for identity and conflict, and then discuss relevant aspects of identity in both Ukraine and Russia, with an emphasis on how identities might have contributed to the war and been changed as a consequence.
Dr. Yoshiko M. Herrera is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research on Russian politics; nationalism, identity, and ethnic politics; political economy and state statistics (national accounts); and international norms, has been published with Cambridge University Press, Cornell University Press, the American Political Science Review, Perspectives on Politics, Comparative Politics, Political Analysis, Journal of Peach Research, Social Science Quarterly, Post-Soviet Affairs, and other outlets. At UW–Madison, Herrera teaches courses on comparative politics, the Russian War on Ukraine, social identities and diversity, and post-communist politics. In 2021, she was a recipient of the Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award at UW-Madison. Herrera received her B.A. from Dartmouth College and M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. Before arriving in Madison in 2007, Herrera was the John L. Loeb Associate Professor of Social Sciences in the Government Department at Harvard University (1999-2007). She is also a former Director of the Center for Russia, East Europe, and Central Asia, former Co-Director of the Institute For Regional and International Studies, and former Director of the UW-Madison Partnership with Nazarbayev University.
Refreshments will be served. This in-person event is open to the public. Please register via the Google Form here.
Date: Thursday, April 9, 2026
Time: 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM ET
Location: Fletcher Russia and Eurasia Program Office
Address: 114 Curtis St, Somerville, MA 02144