Top Experts Rally Behind Critic of Russia’s Aggression

From the Editors: The following is an important statement published on 20 June in The Guardian in support of the position of an eminent colleague, Fiona Hill, denounced recently by Russia-appeasers as a “war monger.” Kyiv Post’s UK born and educated Chief Editor, Bohdan Nahaylo, is one of the many signatories.  We are republishing the letter in its original British format for the record.

There is only one warmonger on the European stage: Vladimir Putin

Experts on Russia, Ukraine and international security respond to a letter that criticized Fiona Hill for her assessment of the Russian threat to Britain

On 13 June, the Guardian published a collective letter concerning Russia’s war and attacking Dr Fiona Hill, the chancellor of Durham University and one of the principal authors of the UK’s strategic defence review. As UK-based and/or British-educated experts in matters pertaining to Russia, Ukraine and international security, we voice our profound disagreement with the letter by Robert Skidelsky, Richard Balfe, Anthony Brenton, Thomas Fazi, Anatol Lieven, Ian Proud, Geoffrey Roberts, Richard Sakwa and Brigitte Granville.

They say that Dr Hill represents “the warmongering mood of official Britain.” But there is only one warmonger on the European stage, and that is Vladimir Putin. It is neither a “false premise” nor a “mad conclusion” to argue that Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has the goal of restoring Russia to the status of a world power, and that the departure of the US would leave Russia “the dominant military power in all of Europe.” In reality, governments and independent experts from across Europe, ourselves included, have reached conclusions very similar to Dr Hill’s, as they are supported by empirical evidence – not least by Putin’s own overtly stated aspirations.

Other Topics of Interest

Trump Downplays Russian Drone Incursion into Poland as ‘Mistake,’ Drawing Sharp Rebuke From Allies

Poland rejects US president’s claim, with top diplomat saying: “No, that wasn’t a mistake.” Analysts tell Kyiv Post that Trump’s unwillingness to confront Moscow is a “fatal weakness” for NATO.

One wonders what “precautions” the signatories would advise Britain to take in the event of a US pullout from Europe. The once – and perhaps still – friendly contacts in Russian officialdom that some of the letter’s authors maintain will not help.

Roy Allison School of Global and Area Studies, University of Oxford

Timothy Garton Ash Faculty of History, University of Oxford

Anders Åslund Stockholm Free World Forum, Sweden (DPhil Oxford)

Rostyslav Averchuk VoxUkraine, Kyiv (BA Oxford)

Jaroslava Barbieri Russia and Eurasia Programme, Chatham House, London

Ian Bond The Centre for European Reform, London

Laurie Bristow Ambassador to Russia 2016-20, Cambridge, UK

Maksym Butkevych Principle of Hope Foundation, Kyiv (MA Sussex)

Edward Hunter Christie Finnish Institute of International Affairs, Helsinki (MSc LSE)

Ruth Deyermond Department of War Studies, King’s College London

Sasha Dovzhyk INDEX: Institute for Documentation and Exchange, Lviv (PhD Birkbeck)

Marta Dyczok Western University, London, Ontario (DPhil Oxford)

Julie Fedor The University of Melbourne, Australia (PhD Cambridge)

Emily Finer School of Modern Languages, University of St Andrews

Rory Finnin Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages, University of Cambridge

Lawrence Freedman Department of War Studies, King’s College London

Mischa Gabowitsch Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Germany (BA Oxford)

Ian Garner Pilecki Institute, Warsaw, Poland (BA Bristol)

Keir Giles Russia and Eurasia Programme, Chatham House, London

Paul Goode Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario (DPhil Oxford)

Thomas Grant Wolfson College, University of Cambridge

Samuel Greene School of Politics and Economics, King’s College London

Agnia Grigas Atlantic Council, Washington, DC (DPhil Oxford)

Hubertus Jahn Clare College, University of Cambridge

Polly Jones Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages, University of Oxford

Ivan U Kłyszcz International Centre for Defence and Security, Tallinn (IM Glasgow)

Amy W Knight Independent Scholar, Summit, New Jersey (PhD LSE)

Natasha Kuhrt Department of War Studies, King’s College London

Taras Kuzio National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (PhD Birmingham)

Simon Lewis University of Bremen, Germany (PhD Cambridge)

Klara Lindström Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies (BA Oxford)

Bobo Lo Independent international relations analyst, Brighton, East Sussex

John Lough Russia and Eurasia Programme, Chatham House, London

Edward Lucas Centre for European Policy Analysis, Washington/London

Orysia Lutsevych Russia and Eurasia Programme, Chatham House, London

Claudia Major German Marshall Fund of the US, Berlin (PhD Birmingham)

Luke March School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh

Daria Mattingly Department of History, University of Chichester

Michael McFaul Stanford University, Palo Alto, California (DPhil Oxford)

Jade McGlynn Department of War Studies, King’s College London

Bohdan Nahaylo Kyiv Post Chief Editor, Kyiv/Barcelona (BA Leeds)

James Nixey Conflict Studies Research Centre, Shrivenham, Oxfordshire

Phillips O’Brien School of International Relations, University of St Andrews

Olga Onuch School of Social Sciences, University of Manchester

Ingerid M Opdahl Institute for Defence Studies, Oslo (PhD Birmingham)

Carolina Vendil Pallin Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences, Stockholm (PhD LSE)

Peter Rutland Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut (BA Oxford)

Gwendolyn Sasse Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany (PhD LSE)

Anton Shekhovtsov Central European University, Vienna (PhD UCL)

James Sherr Russia and Eurasia Programme, Chatham House, London

Oxana Shevel Tufts University, Massachusetts (MPhil Cambridge)

Iryna Shuvalova Faculty of Humanities, University of Oslo (PhD Cambridge)

Timothy D Snyder University of Toronto, Ontario (DPhil Oxford)

Joanna Szostek School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Glasgow

Maximilian Terhalle Hoover Institution, Stanford, California (MA SOAS)

Nikolaus von Twickel Centre for Liberal Modernity, Berlin (MA King’s College London)

Andreas Umland Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies (PhD Cambridge)

Adam Ure Lvivski Consulting, London (PhD UCL)

Fredrik Wesslau Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies (BSc LSE)

Sarah Whitmore School of Law and Social Sciences, Oxford Brookes University

Andrew Wilson School of Slavonic and East European Studies, UCL

Kataryna Wolczuk School of Government, University of Birmingham

Stefan Wolff School of Government, University of Birmingham

Mychailo Wynnyckyj National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (PhD Cambridge)

Yuliya Yurchenko School of Accounting, Finance & Economics, University of Greenwich

The original of this joint letter, published by The Guardian on June 20, can be seen here.