Social and Behavioral Science
and the Russia-Ukraine War: A Collection

Research shows that local and international policymakers can minimize the harm suffered by Ukrainian science by providing direct funding to researchers, creating remote research positions and offering research opportunities abroad to Ukrainian scientists.

Lena Surzhko Harned is a Ukrainian American political scientist. As a specialist in Eastern Europe, she has evaluated this war over the past year from her professional perspective. Yet this war is also deeply personal.

ISA may not have any great love for the richer countries of the world, argues Robert Dingwall, but its president should be capable of telling the difference between mutual aid among sovereign nations and a desire to subject other countries to external domination.

The development of scientific capacity in many parts of the world and the building of academic ties is critical when it comes to responding to a new virus or tracking changes in climate. And yet …

More money to help Ukrainian academics is being allocated to the Researchers at Risk Fellowship scheme in the United Kingdom.

The national science academies of the United States, the all-European academy and those of four separate European countries released, with the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, a short statement on rebuilding “a modern and globally integrated science and research system” in Ukraine.

“It’s very hard,” explains Sir Lawrence Freedman, “to motivate people when they’re going backwards.”

Doubravka Olšáková and Sam Robinson, argue that we are at the beginning of a new era of ‘post naïve’ science diplomacy. 

Doubravka Olšáková and Sam Robinson discuss how the conflict in Ukraine highlights the limitations of conceptions of ‘science diplomacy’ since the turn of the 21st century.

David Canter considers the strange phenomena of Russians believing Putin’s propaganda.

Arik Burakovsky, an expert on relations between the U.S. and Russia, shines light on the future of cooperation between Russia and the West in the realm of higher education.

Game theory is the formal study of strategic choices between two sides. It’s useful to decision makers because it can illustrate the range of options open to combatants within a given crisis, and also map the likely “wins and losses” strategically decided upon by the parties involved. The challenge is applying a hypothetical spectrum to the range of passive and aggressive options, and their consequences in Ukraine today.

What should those outside the conflict zone keep in mind as they consume news about the Russia-Ukraine war? Journalism Professor Daniela Dimitrova offers some answers.

As Vladimir Putin continues his assault on Ukraine, the differences between the Russian and Ukrainian languages have become part of the public discourse in the West

The full extent of the damage on scholars and research from Ukraine will not be known for some time, but predictions are grim.

David Canter considers the sorts of psychological processes that may be shaping Vladimir Putin’s actions.