Midwestern Symposium: Russia & the future of European security

This event is open to current U-M students only. Students must attend all four symposium sessions in their entirety.

Light meals will be provided for Friday and Saturday sessions.

Please join us for a two-day symposium during which students from U-M and other Midwestern universities will explore Russian and Eastern European security issues.

• “The War in Ukraine: Russia, the EU, and NATO” Panel: Genevieve Zubrzycki, University of Michigan Professor of sociology, will moderate an armchair conversation with three noted experts: former Polish Ambassador to Russia Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz, former U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Beyrle, and former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun. They will examine key Western interests at stake, the evolution of U.S. and NATO approaches to Russia, and evident Russian aims in Ukraine and the surrounding region. They will also discuss the road ahead, identifying realistic goals for diplomacy in the months and years ahead and ways to pursue those objectives most effectively.
• “Symposium Student Welcome” Networking Reception: U-M students will meet with their Midwestern university student counterparts and receive information regarding their roles during the program’s Saturday simulation exercise.
• “Research on Law, Democracy, and Security during Wartime in Ukraine” Roundtable: Visiting Ukrainian scholars will share insights on the evolving situation in Ukraine.
• “Russia & NATO in the Baltics” Simulation: Students will apply knowledge gained from previous symposium sessions during a diplomatic simulation exercise.

A detailed agenda will be provided to student participants prior to the symposium.

Note: Students who sign up for this two-day symposium do not have to sign up separately for Friday’s “The War in Ukraine: Russia, the EU and NATO” panel.

Sponsors

This event is co-sponsored with LSA’s Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies (CREES).

• International Policy Center
• Russia
• Ukraine
• Baltics
• Stephen Biegun
• John Beyrle
• Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz
• CREES