The root of the Russo-Ukrainian War is not geopolitical competition, but the multifaceted divergence between Ukraine and Russia over the past 30 years. As Ukraine consolidated a competitive political system and a distinct pro-European identity, Russia reverted back to authoritarianism, refused to accept Ukraine’s right to forge its own course, and came to see it as an “anti-Russia”.

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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 specter of nuclear escalation? How did these supposedly “brotherly peoples” become each other’s worst nightmare?

Maria Popova is an Associate Professor of Political Science at McGill University, Scientific Director of the Jean Monnet Centre Montreal, and Editor of the Cambridge Elements Series on Politics and Society from Central Europe to Central Asia. Her work explores the rule of law and democracy in Eastern Europe. Her first book, Politicized Justice in Emerging Democracies, won the American Association for Ukrainian Studies book prize 2013. It examines the weaponization of law to manipulate elections and control the media in Russia and Ukraine.