Local impacts, global consequences: assessing the mass displacement and migration tied to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

ABSTRACT

Since Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the region’s dynamics have shifted considerably calling for an interdisciplinary assessment of the reverberating effects at home and abroad. This special issue of Canadian Foreign Policy Journal contributes to contemporary public affairs, refugee, migration, and diaspora studies by offering an overview of the broad impacts underway. The issue’s international authors give readers an opportunity to listen to voices addressing all levels of the invasion’s challenges–socially, politically, and economically–uniting thematic and regional expertise on this urgent topic while making linkages between Canada and the region. Their contributions bridge the disciplines of history, geography, political science, architecture, sociology, public policy, and philosophy. This introductory text provides an initial reflection on the pressing issues, summarizing the broad consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine while outlining each author’s distinct contribution. In addition to discussions of the invasion's consequences, it also begins to frame the resultant openings—and challenges—of greater regional pluralism moving forward, as refugees and internally displaced persons leave their homes and interact with new host societies, both domestically and internationally. This special issue looks across the affected region while offering a unique view overseas into the impacts here in Canada.

RÉSUMÉ

Depuis l'invasion de l'Ukraine par la Russie en février 2022, la dynamique de la région a considérablement changé, nécessitant une évaluation interdisciplinaire des répercussions de la violence et des déplacements forcés sur le territoire national et à l'étranger. Ce numéro spécial de la Revue canadienne de politique étrangère apporte sa contribution aux études contemporaines sur les affaires publiques, les réfugiés, les migrations et les diasporas, en offrant une vue d'ensemble sur les vastes impacts en cours. Les auteurs internationaux de ce numéro donnent aux lecteurs l'occasion d'entendre des voix qui abordent les défis de l'invasion à tous les niveaux – social, politique et économique – en rassemblant l'expertise thématique et régionale sur cette question urgente tout en établissant des liens entre le Canada et la région. Leurs contributions font un lien entre les disciplines de l'histoire, de la géographie, des sciences politiques, de la sociologie, des politiques publiques et de la philosophie. Ce texte introductif propose une première réflexion sur les questions urgentes, résumant les conséquences générales de l'invasion de l'Ukraine par la Russie, tout en soulignant la contribution distincte de chaque auteur. Outre les discussions sur ces conséquences générales, il commence aussi à définir les ouvertures subséquentes – et les défis – d'un plus grand pluralisme régional à l'avenir, à mesure que les réfugiés et les personnes déplacées à l'intérieur de leur propre pays quittent leur foyer et interagissent avec de nouvelles sociétés d'accueil, tant au niveau national qu'au niveau international. Ce numéro spécial se penche sur la région affectée tout en offrant un point de vue unique, par-delà nos frontières, sur les impacts distincts, ici au Canada.

KEYWORDS:

• Governance
• refugee
• migrant
• pluralism
• Ukraine

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the participants and hosts of our November 2022 symposium “Global Consequences of Displacement from Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine: Space, Place and Pluralism,” held at the Global Centre for Pluralism in Ottawa, Canada. Here, many of the abovementioned themes were first discussed and several early versions of the articles herein presented. A second event in May 2023 at Carleton University expanded these conversations to a novel audience. Both events provided a crucial opportunity to develop and distill the nascent concepts tied to this special issue.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work received support from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada and Carleton University.

Notes on contributors

Suzanne Harris-Brandts

Suzanne Harris-Brandts is an assistant professor in the School of Architecture & Urbanism, and a faculty associate at the Institute of European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (EURUS), Carleton University (Canada). She holds a PhD in Urban and Regional Studies from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and is a licensed architect in Canada.

Milana Nikolko

Milana Nikolko is an adjunct professor at the Institute of European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (EURUS), Carleton University (Canada). From 2005–2014 she was an associate professor of political science (Docent) at V.Vernadsky Taurida National University (Ukraine), and in 2008 was appointed as visiting professor at the political science department of Valdosta State University (USA).

Jeff Sahadeo

Jeff Sahadeo is a professor in the Department of Political Science and Institute of European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (EURUS), Carleton University (Canada) and author of Voices from the Soviet Edge: Southern Migrants in Leningrad and Moscow (Cornell University Press, 2019).

David Sichinava

David Sichinava is an adjunct research professor and lecturer at the Institute of European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (EURUS), Carleton University (Canada), and Research Associate at the New York-based Langer Research Associates. Previously, he was an assistant professor at Tbilisi State University, cross-appointed with the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences and International School of Economics. Sichinava is also Associate Editor for UC Press’s journal Communist and Post-Communist Studies.