The Russian War of Aggression against Ukraine and International Relations

Cover of the Zeitschrift für Internationale Beziehungen with the logo and title of the special issue “Der russische Angriffskrieg gegen die Ukraine und die Internationale Beziehungen”, number 2/2024. 31st year, December 2024. Logo Nomos-Verlag.

Nicole Deitelhoff, Anna Geis and Carlo Masala publish special issue of ZIB

The discipline of International Relations (IR) is facing new challenges in light of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. Its representatives are sought-after conversation partners for politicians and the media. Core IB concepts such as conflict maturity, escalation dominance and balance of power have also found their way into non-academic debates. The consequences of the Russian full-scale invasion for theoretical orientation and research practice are also being discussed within the research community. 

The special issue of the Zeitschrift für Internationale Beziehungen (ZIB) entitled “Der russische Angriffskrieg gegen die Ukraine und die Internationale Beziehungen” (The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and International Relations) is dedicated to these challenges for German IR in four thematic blocks:

The first block sheds light on the consequences for the theory of international relations. Particularly in the first few months after the attack on all of Ukraine in February 2022, the accusation was often made that IR had dealt too little with “hard” security policy issues. Realist and neo-realist theories initially experienced an upswing. How should theoretical debates be conducted in IR now and what is their purpose anyway?

The second block looks at institutionalized German peace and conflict research and security research. According to the thesis in the article by Christopher Daase, Nicole Deitelhoff and Anna Geis, peace and conflict research and security policy research have largely become intertwined over the last forty years. With the Russian war of aggression, the separation of peace and security was once again more strongly emphasized by some currents in IR.

The increased demand for IR expertise in politics and the media is the subject of the third block. What opportunities and challenges arise from this new attention? How do researchers deal with uncertainties when they are asked for public assessments?

Finally, the fourth block reflects on the role of “Westsplaining” and “epistemic imperialism” in the production of knowledge in German and Western IB discourse. From a Ukrainian and Global South perspective, the contributions problematize hierarchies, ignorance and post-colonial relationship patterns that shape academic discourse as well as politics and everyday life.

The special issue of ZIB was edited by Anna Geis, Nicole Deitelhoff and Carlo Masala. Christopher Daase and Olena Podvorna from PRIF also contributed to the issue. The articles of the fourth block are in English, the rest of the special issue is in German.