Over the course of the last five days, the situation of the world has radically transformed in response to Russian’s invasion of Ukraine, which initiated the first large-scale land war in Europe since World War II.

More than half a million people have fled Ukraine since Russian forces invaded the country. Long lines of cars and buses at western borders of Ukraine—to Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania—are backed up.

On the ground, Ukraine citizens are taking up arms to defend their country. Ukraine’s largest cities are under attack.

Leaders across the world have begun enacting sanctions, effectively cutting Russia off from the rest of the world economy. This morning, Russia’s financial markets were hammered by those sanctions.

For today’s show, Bert Zipperer hosts an open line taking listener questions about the quickly evolving situation in Ukraine with political science professor Andrew Kydd.

Andrew Kydd is a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where his research focuses on international security issues. He is the author of Trust and Mistrust in International Relations (Princeton University Press, 2005).

Cover image by Kaufdex

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