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“Why the Ukraine Crisis Is the West’s Fault”

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JOHN J. MEARSHEIMER, j-mearsheimer at uchicago.edu
Available for a limited number of interviews, Mearsheimer’s books include Why Leaders Lie: The Truth about Lying in International Politics and The Tragedy of Great Power Politics. He is distinguished professor of political science and co-director of the Program on International Security Policy at the University of Chicago. He just wrote “Why the Ukraine Crisis Is the West’s Fault: The Liberal Delusions That Provoked Putin” for Foreign Affairs.

JAN OBERG, oberg at transnational.org, @TFFworldaffairs
Co-founder of the Swedish-based Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research, Oberg recently wrote the piece “Ceasefire in Eastern Ukraine: Now withdrawal by Russia, the UN in and NATO out.”

NICOLAI PETRO, nnpetro at gmail.com
Available for interviews until Friday, and then after Wednesday (he is going to a conference in Moscow), Petro is professor of politics at the University of Rhode Island and has recently returned from a year-long Fulbright research scholarship in Ukraine. He just wrote the piece “Eastern Ukraine: The Neverending Crisis” for the National Interest, which states: “Russia has responded to popular aspirations in eastern Ukraine very differently from the way it responded in Crimea. These differences, however, have been ignored by most Western observers, who base their analysis on three assumptions. First, that despite his disavowals, Putin is in fact actively supporting the rebels with weapons and finances. Second, that without this support, the rebellion would collapse for lack of popular support. And finally, that once the rebellion is suppressed, Ukraine will embark on economic and political reforms that will stabilize the country. Because each of these assumptions is quite far from the mark, not surprisingly, so is Western policy toward both Ukraine and Russia.”

Also, see his recent interview “Who gets to define what it means to be Ukrainian?” in Russia Direct.