The passing of Mikhail Gorbachev has revived memories of glasnost, perestroika, and the hopes for one free world that were raised by his turn toward openness and reform. Moving scenes of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 — a literal cutting of the Iron Curtain — were followed by a phase of enthusiasm for democracy and a smaller world. The end of the Cold War was celebrated in many countries.
Over thirty years later, in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, humanity finds itself in a very different world. Do the crises of 2022 cast Mikhail Gorbachev and the period in which he led the Soviet Union in a different light? Do they reshape interpretations of the Cold War, how it ended, or even raise the question of whether it did end? Is there hope for a less divided world? These questions will be explored by a panel of speakers from the worlds of diplomacy, policymaking, and religious faith, representing different experiences and expertise.
Free and open to all. A live stream will be available on the Nanovic Institute's YouTube channel and here on this event page.
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Cosponsored by the Nanovic Institute for European Studies and the Department of German and Russian Languages and Literatures.
Panelists
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Tobias Boes
Professor of German Studies, Department Chair, German and Russian Languages and Literatures
Faculty Fellow, Nanovic Institute for European Studies
University of Notre Dame -
Dina Fainberg
Senior Lecturer in Modern History
Department of International Politics
City University of London -
Sławomir Łukasiewicz
Professor of the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin
Visiting Scholar, Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University
Kosciuszko Foundation grantee 2022 -
Serhii Plokhii
Mykhailo S. Hrushevs'kyi Professor of Ukrainian History and Director
Ukrainian Research Institute, Harvard University -
Moderated by Clemens Sedmak
Director, Nanovic Institute for European Studies
Professor of Social Ethics, Keough School of Global Affairs
University of Notre Dame