This is a past event. Registration is closed. View other Australian Institute of International Affairs New South Wales events.
In addressing the risks of continuing the Ukraine war, Tom Switzer will draw on the analyses of Owen Harries (1930-2020), a prominent Australian realist intellectual and policy maker who became a leading opponent of NATO expansion during the 1990s. Along with the likes of the distinguished historians Robert Conquest and Richard Pipes as well as George Kennan and Paul Nitze — both key architects of the Cold War containment doctrine in the 1940s — Harries warned in the 1990s that NATO enlargement would lead to big trouble by provoking Russia.
In the 1990s, Russia was no threat to the West and was incapable of serious military action. But "if humiliated further and made desperate," Harries warned, "it could become dangerous in a way that a wounded animal can be dangerous." Its potential to be a troublemaker was huge.
Today, the chickens are coming home to roost. Since Russian's invasion, Ukraine has lost about a third of its population. Much of the country's infrastructure has been devastated. The average age of the Ukrainian frontline troops is now 43. Worse yet, there are no serious signs of a meaningful peace deal. All of this was avoidable if Western leaders took into account Russia's strategic sensibilities in the 1990s and thereafter.
REGISTRATION CLOSES AT 4:00PM AEST ON Tuesday, May 28
We welcome participants in-person at the Glover Cottages, tickets to be pre-paid . Once the limit for in-person attendees is reached, tickets will no longer be sold on the website or at the door.
Refreshments will be served from 6pm at Glover Cottages. The event will start at 6.30pm AEST (Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne time), Tuesday May 28.
For further information please email nswexec@internationalaffairs.org.au
