George Mason University: The Conflict In Ukraine Is Fueled By Putin's Information War, Carter School Expert Says. Here's What Needs To B ...

Press release from George Mason University:

March 4th, 2022

The ongoing war in Ukraine is unique from other conflicts, and the international community can take five actions to control the situation, said Karina Korostelina, professor and director of the Program for the Prevention of Mass Violence at George Mason University’s Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution. Korostelina shared her perspective over Zoom: This is not a war between people—it’s completely orchestrated by [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and his close supporters who made decisions about invasion through a groupthink process that prioritizes selected information, cuts off other sources, and silences people who are afraid to raise their voice because they’ll be ousted or persecuted. The invasion also was backed by a very strong media propaganda and information war, as they try to convince their population that Ukrainian people are hateful and aggressive, that they prosecute Russians and support Nazis. This has been going on for multiple years to justify Putin [invading] Ukraine and now is a part of the nested model of war. But the conflict is not rooted in negative relations between Russian and Ukrainian people. Calling Ukrainians Nazis is completely irrelevant, because, for example, the president of Ukraine is Jewish. Every country has nationalist groups, and this one is such a small percentage of the population, which should not be taken into account. Putin is using this to justify his actions to his own people. Russian forces invaded Georgia in 2008, annexed Crimea in 2014, and the lack of serious consequences for Putin’s actions encouraged continued acts of aggression, such as those we see today, Korostelina said. The president of Ukraine called for preemptive actions, but unfortunately our administration in the United States and the European Union were very reluctant to outline specific sets of sanctions. Now they are establishing sanctions, but it’s too late because so many people already died. Cities are destroyed. There is also no representative of the United Nations in Ukraine right now. It took six days and devastation of civilians in such cities as Kharkiv and Volnovakha for international organizations to step in and organize humanitarian support. However, several cities, including Kherson, did not receive “green corridor.” We have to save civilians. For me, this war brings up a question we really need to discuss: What is the responsibility of the United Nations and other organizations, which could not prevent war and could not immediately provide support during a humanitarian crisis? One of the key components for resilience of Ukrainian society during the regional armed conflict in Eastern Ukraine, which we also see now, was volunteering. Right now, everyone is stepping in, in very creative ways. People are using bottles to create weapons, others are calling every Russian phone number they can find to tell them what is actually happening, other people are medical volunteers, and others are buying food to feed displaced people. Everybody is involved in some creative way, and that is very important. We've done a lot of work in Ukraine. One project was Dialogue and Difference, supported by the U.S. State Department, which involved teaching students and children how to be engaged in dialogue for resolution of conflicts. Another ongoing project, also supported by the State Department, involves teaching students conflict resolution skills for dealing with issues in society and creating internships for local administrations and NGOs. The third project was with the German Civil Peace Service in training history teachers in Ukraine how to teach about peace, different forms of violence, and how to address multiple controversial issues in Ukraine, including armed conflict in the East. There is such a big need for understanding and dealing with issues of peace and violence that we are providing. Mason is deeply involved in work with the Ukrainian community, and we will continue doing this work.

This press release was produced by George Mason University. The views expressed here are the author’s own.