The Conversation

Russia is blocking Security Council action on the Ukraine war – but the UN is still the only international peace forum

Written by Shelley Inglis, Executive Director, University of Dayton Human Rights Center, University of Dayton

People gather outside the U.N. headquarters in New York City to protest the war in Ukraine on March 2, 2022.Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

When Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” in Ukraine on Feb. 23, 2022, the U.N. Security Council was conducting an emergency late-night meeting chaired by...

How do Russia's reasons for war stack up? An expert on 'just war' explains

Written by Valerie Morkevicius, Associate Professor, Political Science, Colgate University

Two men speak in the backyard of a house damaged by a Russian airstrike, according to locals, in Gorenka, Ukraine, March 2, 2022. AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda

War is always a tragedy. It sometimes seems inevitable. But is it ever justified?

Philosophers, theologians, politicians and military leaders have wrestled with this question for millennia. And to a...

Russian troops fought for control of a nuclear power plant in Ukraine – a safety expert explains how warfare and nuclear power are a volatile combination

Written by Najmedin Meshkati, Professor of Engineering and International Relations, University of Southern California

Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, points to the training facility hit by Russian artillery at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. AP Photo/Lisa Leutner

Russian forces have taken control of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant after shelling the Zaporizhzhia facility in the Ukrainian city of...

Meet Russia’s oligarchs, a group of men who won't be toppling Putin anytime soon

Written by Stanislav Markus, Associate Professor of International Business, University of South Carolina

Putin has kept most oligarchs at a distance – literally and figuratively.Alexey Nikolsky/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images

U.S. President Joe Biden and other world leaders are setting their sights on Russia’s oligarchs as they seek new ways to punish Vladimir Putin – and those who have enabled him and profited from his reign –...

Economic sanctions may deal fatal blow to Russia's already-weak domestic opposition

Written by Brian Grodsky, Professor of Political Science, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Russian police have detained thousands of Russians who have taken to the streets to protest the invasion of Ukraine. AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky

The West has responded to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by imposing harsh economic sanctions.

Most consequentially, key Russian banks have been cut out of the SWIFT payments messaging system, making...

How Zelenskyy emerged as the antithesis of Putin and proved you don't need to be a strongman to be a great leader

Written by Michael Blake, Professor of Philosophy, Public Policy and Governance, University of Washington

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been lauded for his resistance to the Russian invasionPhoto by Laurent Van der Stockt for Le Monde/Getty Images

Whatever happens in the coming weeks, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will go down as the face of Ukrainian resilience during the Russian invasion of his country.

His response to the Russian invasion of his country...

Hambruna, subyugación y desastre nuclear: cómo la experiencia soviética sembró el resentimiento de los ucranianos hacia Rusia

Written by Emily Channell-Justice, Director of the Temerty Contemporary Ukraine Program, Harvard University

Una estátua conmemora la hambruna en la que murieron millones de ucranianos.A statue of a girl during the Ukrainian famine, in which someone has placed wheat and flowers.

Ucrania y Rusia comparten una gran cantidad de historia y cultura; de hecho, durante largos periodos, los países vecinos formaron parte de imperios más...

How to responsibly donate to Ukrainian causes

Written by Beth Gazley, Professor of Public and Environmental Affairs, O'Neill School, Indiana University

These charity leaders teamed up to fundraise on March 3, 2022, for refugees fleeing Ukraine.Stefan Rousseau/PA Images via Getty Images

When Russia invaded Ukraine, I responded like many Americans: by making charitable donations.

I was able to make my gift with confidence because I’m a scholar of nonprofits who has studied giving during...

Indiana, Iowa and Texas advance anti-transgender agendas – part of a longtime strategy by conservatives to rally their base

Written by Alison Gash, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Oregon

Conservatives see anti-transgender bills as fair game.AP Photo/Michael Conroy

Transgender girls in Iowa will no longer be allowed to compete in girls’ sports – the latest in a rash of anti-trans initiatives sweeping across the United States.

On March 3, 2022, Gov. Kim Reynolds signed into law legislation that affects transgender girls...

The sex of your cells matters when it comes to heart disease

Written by Brian Aguado, Assistant Professor, University of California San Diego

How many X chromosomes you have can affect your health.John M Lund Photography Inc/Digital Vision via Getty Images

Most mammals, including humans, have two sex chromosomes, X and Y. One sex chromosome is usually inherited from each parent, and they pair up as either XX or XY in every cell of the body. People with XX chromosomes typically identify...