"Russia and Ukraine: Entangled Histories, Diverging States "
March 21st, 2025. NPR Readers' Corner, Boise State Public Radio.
What are the roots of this war, which has upended the international legal order and brought back the threat of nuclear escalation? How did these supposedly “brotherly peoples” become present-day enemies? In their new book, Russia and Ukraine: Entangled Histories, Diverging States, Maria Popova and her co-author, Oxana Shevel, explain how since 1991 Russia and Ukraine diverged politically, ending up on a collision course we’re bearing witness to today.
September 9th, 2024. CDA Expert Series. Conference of Defense Associations Institute.
Discussing how recent developments in the Ukraine War have shifted narratives surrounding the conflict, we consider the implications of the Ukrainian Army’s incursion into Kursk in particular. It has had wide-reaching implications for this issue within Russia, in Europe, and further afield. What this means for the Putin regime’s power projection in the region in the coming months is increasingly uncertain.
"Russia and Ukraine: Entangled Histories, Diverging States"
May 11th, 2024. The No Delusion Zone. Protecting The Republic.
How can we locate the Russian invasion in the wider context of Ukrainian-Russian relations? How can we describe the divergent paths that Ukraine and Russia took after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and how do these divergent paths explain the current war?
March 22nd, 2024. Explaining Ukraine. Ukraine/World International.
How can we locate the Russian invasion in the wider context of Ukrainian-Russian relations? How can we describe the divergent paths that Ukraine and Russia took after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and how do these divergent paths explain the current war?
"Russia and Ukraine Have Tangled Histories, Cut With Trauma”
March 8th, 2024. The Silicon Curtain.
In February 2022, Russian missiles rained on Ukrainian cities, and tanks rolled towards Kyiv to end Ukrainian independent statehood. President Zelensky declined a Western evacuation offer and Ukrainians rallied to defend their country. What are the roots of this war, which has upended the international legal order and brought back the spectre of nuclear escalation? How did these supposedly “brotherly peoples” become each other’s worst nightmare?
March 5th, 2024. On The Frontlines of Democracy. Toronto Metropolitan University.
Host Sanjay Ruparelia sat down with Maria Popova, an associate professor of political science at McGill University, where she holds the Jean Monnet Chair. Dr. Popova is a widely noted scholar of corruption, autocracy and populism in post-communist Europe, and recently released her book Russia and Ukraine: Entangled Histories, Diverging States which she co-authored with Oxana Shevel. As Ukraine enters its third year of the war with Russia, Maria joins us to discuss Russia and Ukraine's divergent paths after the fall of the Soviet Union, the two countries’ conflicting memories of the Holodomor, and Russia’s motivations in Ukraine that extend beyond NATO’s encroachment.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine and Russia not only embarked on very different political paths at home, but they viewed the future of their relationship in starkly divergent terms. In Russia and Ukraine: Entangled Histories, Diverging States, authors Maria Popova and Oxana Shevel show how Russia’s determination to control an independent Ukraine only pushed it further away. Popova joins host Richard Aldous to discuss how the varying cultural and political realities in the two countries ultimately led to today’s geopolitical clash.
February 22nd, 2024. The Doorstep. Carnegie Institute for Ethics in International Affairs.
Ahead of the second anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, McGill University's Maria Popova and Tufts University's Oxana Shevel, co-authors of Russia and Ukraine: Entangled Histories and Diverging States, join Doorstep co-hosts Nick Gvosdev and Tatiana Serafin to discuss shifting Ukraine-Russia war narratives and expectations.
"How can Ukraine continue to rally support and challenge rising sentiment that Russia is "unstoppable"? What more can the media do to broaden perspectives and counter disinformation? What can we expect for Ukraine over the next year?"
January 29th, 2024. The Eastern Front. American Enterprise Institute.
As Putin attempts to erase Ukrainian identity, keeping Ukraine’s unique history and culture alive has become ever more important. On this episode of The Eastern Front, Giselle, Dalibor, and Iulia speak with Maria Popova and Oxana Shevel, associate professors of political science at McGill University and Tufts University, respectively, to discuss their new book, Russia and Ukraine: Entangled Histories, Diverging States. How has Ukraine resisted Russian influence and pursued democracy? What impact has the war had on Ukrainian self-identity? And how has academia tackled issues around Eastern European identity?
January 29th, 2024. Thinking Global. E-International Relations.
"Professors Maria Popova and Oxana Shevel chat with Kieran O'Meara and Jennifer Engl about the factors that led to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, NATO expansion and ‘westsplaining’, Regime divergence, identity, war fatigue and holding perpetrators of war crimes accountable."
January 28th, 2024. Background Briefing with Ian Masters.
"With the second anniversary of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine less than a month away, veteran broadcaster Ian Masters looks into the real reasons behind this brutal war against a neighbor’s country, its people and culture and speak with Maria Popova, a Professor of Political Science at McGill University and the Scientific Co-Director of the Jean Monnet Centre in Montreal, Canada. Also joining the podcast is Oxana Shevel, a Professor of Political Science and Director of the International Relations Program at Tufts University".
November 29th, 2023. twenty4two with Tim Gwynn Jones.
""After we trace the divergence over the last 30 years between the two states, we arrive at the conclusion that the full-scale invasion really produced ... a final rupture between Russia and Ukraine,” Maria Popova says in my latest New Books Network podcast. “There is really no going back to any possibility for Ukraine to be tied back to Russia so the only way that the war really can end is with Ukraine hopefully in its full territory but with Ukraine fully integrated into the West as a member of the EU and a member of NATO”.
"Russia and Ukraine: Entangled Histories, Diverging States"
November 24th, 2023. European Politics New Books Network.
Russia and Ukraine have alternative histories and alternative destinies. After the Soviet Union collapsed - depending on who you spoke to – they were either a single people artificially divided and destined for reunification, or one nation with a distinct history, culture, and language serially repressed by a dominant neighbour.
In Russia and Ukraine: Entangled Histories, Diverging States (Polity, 2023), Maria Popova and Oxana Shevel argue that: "The root of the difficult Russia–Ukraine relationship is the misaligned understanding of Soviet dissolution – as the end of common statehood or as its reinvention".
"Ukraine's Threshold of Joining the European Union"
November 22nd, 2023. Ukraine 242. Pacifica Network.
On November 8th, 2023, the European Commission of the European Union published a press release stating that their 2023 Enlargement Package recommends that the European Council open accession negotiations with Ukraine, along with Moldova, based on progress made by those countries in meeting EU standards. According to Popova, this is the realization of what was almost an impossible dream for Ukrainians, exactly on the 10th anniversary of the beginning of Euromaidan demonstrations.
"The War in Ukraine and Transition: In Conversation with Maria Popova"
June 20th, 2023. Review of Democracy. Central European University.
Despite, or perhaps due to, the war in Ukraine there have been positive developments in combating corruption and other issues in anticipation of EU membership. In this RevDem Rule of Law podcast Teodora Miljojkovic discusses these issues around transition with Professor Maria Popova.
March 6th, 2023. Tour de Table. Center for International Peace and Security.
In this inaugural episode of Tour de Table, Frédéric Mérand and Jennifer Welsh are joined by Maria Popova, Jean Monnet Chair and Associate Professor of Political Science at McGill University, to unpack the origins of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict, its stakes, and to understand the many varied consequences it has had on the foreign, security, and economic policies of states around the globe.
December 19th, 2022. Ukraine 242. Pacifica Network.
Prof. Popova gives an in-depth accounting of how, in the past 20 years, the Ukrainian people have collectively decided to become part of Western Europe and democracy. Popova says that these events and developments constitutes a turning away from Ukraine's ties with Russia and Russia's unwillingness to accept this change is the root cause of the current war in Ukraine.
"Post-Soviet Political Development: Freedom of Speech vs. Authoritarian Consolidation"
November 2nd, 2022. The Silicon Curtain.
Those who ascribe to the Great Powers view of history, may interpret the Russia Ukraine war as a clash of political cultures, part of a wider geo-political game; they may go so far as to suggest that such a civilisational conflict was inevitable. But this interpretation ignores the agency of individuals, groups, and nations in making decisions and in some way absolves them of guilt for the crimes that are being committed on an unimaginable scale against individuals. This macro political interpretation also skirts over the illegality and corruption at the heart of Putin’s system of governance; the vertical power structure, rampant nepotism, the lack of checks and balances, rule of law and an independent judiciary is just as important in explaining how we got to this dangerous tipping point in history.
July 8th, 2022. Conversation Six With Kathryn Stoner.
Prof. Popova gives a brief account of events in the six months that unfolded between February and July, 2022, including key security developments regarding both sides of the conflict.
"Corruption, Populism, and the Future of Democracy"
March 31st, 2022. WorldCanvass with Joan Kjaer. University of Iowa.
What is the link between corruption, anti-corruption campaigns, and the rise of populism? What conditions create an opening for autocratic-leaning, populist leaders to challenge democratic systems? In a timely discussion, expert guests explore the challenges that corruption and populism pose to good governance and democracy.
January 26th, 2022. Real Talk With Ryan Jespersen.
McGill University's Dr. Maria Popova unpacks the (then) rising Russia-Ukraine tensions prior to war and full-scale invasion, what the West can and should do about it, and where Canada factors in.
