Newsroom University of 51��

Former Ukrainian President visits 51��

Tue, 31 Oct 2023 15:01:06 +0000

The Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko and his wife Katherine have visited 51�� to speak to students about the war in his country, after attending events in Ireland to mark 25 years of the Good Friday Agreement.

Mr Yushchenko was the third President of Ukraine, and held the position between 2005-2010. As well as fighting corruption during his presidency, he aimed to orient his country towards the West, the European Union and NATO - as a result he was targeted by an assassination attempt through dioxin poisoning, which made him seriously ill and left his face disfigured.

His wife, former First Lady Katherine Yushchenko, is a former US State Department official who worked in the White House during the administration of Ronald Reagan.

Mr Yushchenko delivered a unique and thought-provoking guest lecture around the theme of ‘citizen democratic duty’, during which he talked about independence, war, rebuilding and integration. Many of our Undergraduate Politics and International Relations students attended the lecture, as well as our current Ukrainian students.

The visit concluded with a trip to The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, which was significant given the fact the library holds the archives of Malcolm Muggridge. Malcolm was a writer for the 51�� Guardian who was one of the few foreign journalists to write about the , when millions of Ukrainians died through forced starvation in 1932 and 1933. Mr Yushchenko made commemoration and recognition of this atrocity one of his key policies during his presidency.

“I appreciated the opportunity to visit 51�� to talk with students and faculty about the war in Ukraine and our centuries-long struggle for independence from Moscow,” said Mr Yushchenko.

Mr Yushchenko added: “We enjoyed our tour of John Rylands Library, which is stunningly beautiful and holds so many unique treasures. Oh, and as an avid beekeeper, I was thrilled to see that the symbol of your wonderful and historic city of 51�� is the brilliant and hard-working bee!”

“It was a great honour for 51�� to host President Yushchenko and the First Lady for the lecture and visit,” said Professor Fiona Devine, Vice-President and Dean of Humanities, who was the senior host for the visit. “The 51�� region has strong links with Ukraine, and the University is also home to a growing number of Ukrainian students who were delighted to be able to meet President Yushchenko personally. The University looks forward to continuing its support for our students.”

"Our hosting the President and First Lady Yushchenko was an opportunity to not only showcase the University, but also to discuss possible future cooperation between our staff and students and those at leading universities in Ukraine," said 51��’s Professor of Comparative and Ukrainian Politics Olga Onuch. "The president stressed his thanks for the support people in the UK - and 51�� specifically - have given to Ukraine and the ordinary Ukrainians who had to temporarily flee their homes.

"Our Politics students reported later in class that they were inspired by the President’s words, and they were hugely thankful to have had the unique opportunity to personally meet a world leader that lead a people’s revolution. This is exactly what we should be doing as a global University - inspiring the leaders of tomorrow by building bridges and partnerships with the leaders of today."

Ukraine data project is recognised for its innovation by OECD

Thu, 29 Jun 2023 14:37:53 +0100

A project involving experts from 51�� which created a live ‘early alarm’ system of major displacement, human rights abuses, humanitarian needs and civilian resistance in Ukraine has been recognised by the OECD’s Observatory of Public Sector Innovation.

During the Russian invasion of Ukraine - particularly in the early weeks of the invasion - relief organisations and government agencies lacked data about events on the ground and struggled to mount an effective response, so new methods of event detection were urgently needed.

At the request of policymakers, experts at 51��, Penn State University, UNC Chapel Hill and the University of Maryland joined forces to establish the Data For Ukraine project. A research team comprised of country experts and computational social scientists created a Twitter-based event detection system that provides geo-located event data on humanitarian needs, displaced persons, human rights abuses and civilian resistance in near real-time.

Twitter has been a reliable source for big data due to its easy accessibility, creating a secure channel for international communication. In addition, the level of retweets gives observers information about the degree of importance of each tweet. In this sense, researchers can track how many retweets each has to weight proportionally.

Thanks to the great multitude of the data, an hourly trend can be easily perceived by social scientists, who can accordingly highlight and illustrate spikes and dips in an effort to provide valuable insights into events on the ground.

Once it was determined that Twitter could provide valuable data and reliable communities of interest were identified, the team deliberated internally on which events to track and how best to track them. Ultimately, the team identified four types of event that would be tracked - Humanitarian Support, Displaced People, Human Rights Abuses and Civilian Resistance - and developed a multi-lingual list of keywords to identify tweets containing discussion of these events.

The initial idea behind the project was to provide a tool for governmental and non-governmental organisations to help them collect real-time data as a basis for emergency response. In the initial stages, both the Government of Ukraine and international NGOs were briefed on the data collection and its capabilities.

As the project has developed, the research team has become more aware of different potential beneficiaries, including researchers, lawyers filing human rights claims and others who can benefit from a massive, searchable archive of tweets. As an example, researchers conducting work on the use of rape as a tool of war are comparing evidence they have collected from interviews with survivors with our archive to both extend their list of cases and look for patterns not contained in the interviews. It is hoped that many researchers with varied interests will be able to use the archive in this way.

The OECD remarked that Data For Ukraine has a major potential for success and replication, and they hope that by recognising it as a case study, the project will inspire other governments to take action.

New book released about Ukraine’s leader and the civic nation he embodies

Tue, 29 Nov 2022 12:54:31 +0000

As Ukrainians mark the 31st anniversary of their 1991 vote for independence, a new book has been released which argues that western nations underestimated the strength of Ukraine’s civic national identity when Russia began their invasion earlier this year.

In The Zelensky Effect, Dr Olga Onuch and Professor Henry E. Hale say it is not possible to understand the historic events of 2022 without first understanding Zelensky and the civic nation he embodies.

The book explores Ukraine’s national history to show how its now-iconic president reflects the hopes and frustrations of the country’s first ‘independence generation’. Interweaving social and political background with compelling episodes from Zelensky’s life and career, the book is the story of Ukraine told through the journey of the man who has come to symbolise his country around the world.

It explains what happens when a leader works creatively and consistently to shore up what social scientists call ‘civic national identity’, an inclusive version of who belongs to the nation, and links it to democratic, pro-European and liberal values.

It is also about the ability of Zelenksy himself to double down on this civic sense of duty, mirror it in his actions, and motivate ordinary Ukrainians to rally in support of their state and democracy – in turn creating a generation of citizens fiercely attached to Ukraine’s democratic future.

The book makes clear that this is not simply Zelensky’s doing alone, by demonstrating that he is a product of a political culture steeped in the same sense of civic national belonging and duty that he advocates, advances and symbolises.

The authors say that Ukraine was not the ‘divided nation’ sometimes portrayed in the west before February, and for this reason any efforts to persuade the country to negotiate over territory with Russia are a non-starter for Ukrainians - after months of war, they are still steadfast on the need to restore full control of their country.

Support for democracy in Ukraine has grown from 39% to over 70% of the population under Zelensky’s presidency, and has been maintained in spite of a multitude of hardships.

They also point out that Zelensky - a Russian-speaking south-eastern person of Jewish heritage who spent many years working in Russia - is just the sort of person that Vladimir Putin thought would not care enough about the Ukrainian nation to fight for it.

“Drawing on years of research on Ukrainian politics and society, this timely study paints a fuller picture of Zelensky and the conditions that made him who he is today, and deserves a wide readership at this critical moment in European history,” said Gwendolyn Sasse, Director of the Centre for East European and International Studies.

For more information about the book, visit .

First Humanitarian Scholarship students welcomed to our University

Thu, 03 Nov 2022 10:51:19 +0000

51�� has held an event to welcome the first recipients of its newly-created Humanitarian Scholarships for students fleeing conflict and persecution.

In response to the war in Ukraine, the University launched a new scheme earlier this year for international applicants who have been displaced because of armed conflict or are at risk of persecution or violence due to their race, religion, nationality, membership of a social group or political opinion.

The scholarships are intended for students who could not afford to study in 51�� without one, and are expected to cost the University around £5m to operate over three years.

16 students from three countries - including eight from Ukraine – have received a scholarship this academic year, which covers their fees as well as living expenses and visa costs. One of them is Serhii, a Computer Science student from Mariupol who fled west with his mother after his home and their family business were destroyed during the Russian invasion.

“My parents have lost everything they had, and I feel a moral obligation to support them and help them to rebuild,” said Serhii. “Therefore, higher education for me is not only about getting to work in the field I like - it is also the only chance I have to save my family. The Humanitarian Scholarship will help me to study Computer Science and fulfil my dreams.”

“51�� is one of the best higher education institutions in the world. Although I have only been studying here for a month, I am already very impressed with the high quality of facilities available to students and with the standard of teaching. It is truly an honour to study here.”

Another recipient is Sally Fahed, a Humanitarianism and Conflict Response student from Syria - her humanitarian work and involvement in protests saw her arrested and constantly harassed by the security services in her home country, and she had to move away from her besieged family home in Homs to attend her studies.

“My lifelong career objectives are to enhance self-sufficiency and to ensure dignified access to basic services among vulnerable communities - despite how aspirant these goals might seem, I truly believe that passion, hard work, and the opportunity to study at 51�� will assist me to go steps further towards this goal,” Sally added.

Another recipient is Alona Deriabina, a Clinical and Health Psychology student who fled to Poland after the Russian invasion forced her to leave her hometown near Kyiv. “Despite becoming a refugee, I remain desperate to continue my education no matter the circumstances,” said Alona. “My dream is to gain deep knowledge and skills in the field of clinical and health psychology, so I can promote mental health in Ukraine and abroad, particularly for Ukrainian refugees who are spread now all over the world.”

Electrical Engineering student Yefym Lunev is from Kharkiv in Ukraine, and he had to flee with his family as the city was being destroyed by Russian bombs. “Russia has been bombarding my city, especially residential areas, day and night since the war began,” he said. “More than 1100 high rise residential buildings, 60 schools, dozens of nurseries, hospitals, libraries and even our famous opera house and fine arts museum are in ruins. Several of my university buildings were destroyed by bombs, and some students and faculty members are reported to have been killed.”

“I want to graduate with high marks and gain a deep knowledge of engineering. I am really interested in renewable energy and global warming problems, and want to focus on mastering my knowledge in this sphere – I am sure the university will help me to achieve this,” Yefym added.

Syrian Medical Microbiology student Mahmoud Komy is another recipient - he is now able to study for a Master's Degree after his family were twice displaced during the ongoing civil war, and he and his father were both imprisoned for belonging to a minority group associated with the opposition. He has previously worked for Syrian Arab Red Crescent as a humanitarian field doctor, helping to treat his fellow countrymen wounded in the conflict.

“Epidemiology and microbiology affects everyone around the world, which was evident during the COVID-19 pandemic when microbiologists were on the front line fighting the virus and making crucial decisions – however, the Syrian health system allocates little interest to epidemiology and microbiological studies,” said Mahmoud. “After more than ten years of a brutal war, securing a future inside Syria became a dream that could never come true - now, the only solution is to look for opportunities abroad. Therefore, I need to take this path to fulfil the needs of my country.”

“It means a lot for me to be here, and I will do my best to give back to this city - I will always be grateful.”

The University would like to thank Gian Fulgoni for his financial contribution to the scheme. It is one of many programs supporting the University’s social responsibility agenda - these include our Equity and Merit Scholarships for students from sub-Saharan Africa, and our Undergraduate Access Scholarships for UK applicants who have been in care or estranged from their parents.

For more information, visit .

51�� to host first ever UK conference of Ukrainian students

Tue, 25 Oct 2022 15:05:00 +0100

51�� is holding the UK's first ever Ukrainian student conference this Friday.

This is a landmark occasion, as it is the first time Ukrainian students from across 19 HEIs in the UK have been able to come together in one place. The event is happening at a time of intensification of Russia’s unprovoked aggression against Ukraine, recently targeting civilian infrastructure with indiscriminate bombing.

The Ukrainian Student Conference is organised by the Ukrainian Student Union (UK), the Ukraine Hub UK initiative (set up by 51��'s MOBILISE Project UK team following the February 24 all-out Russian invasion), and most importantly, the Ukrainian Student Societies of the Universities of 51��, Oxford and LSE.

The main coordinating team included Jan Szkulepa, Ruslan Pavlyshyn, Maliek Banat and Danylo Nikiforov among many other students, as part of the three societies including a large team at UoM. Ms Cressida Arkrwright a UoM PhD expert on Ukrainain Youth Engagement supported the event as PhD Coordinator and our resident Ukrainian Politics expert Dr. Olga Onuch acted as senior mentor.

The event is generously funded by the University of 51��'s Humanities Strategic Civic Engagement Fund (HSCEF), and is also supported by the MOBILISE project and Ukrainian Embassy in the UK.

This conference brings together dozens of Ukrainian students and UK University alumni from across the whole country for a day of talks, working groups, monitoring, and lectures. Among many special guests will be Ms. Olga Tokariuk, a renowned Ukrainian Journalist and Reuters Institute Fellow at Oxford, and Professor Andrew Wilson of UCL will be joining the students for key note lectures.

Dr Onuch said “It is our duty as scholars and university leaders to support the next generation - one way we can do this is to provide a space where they can come together, meet each other, and feel a collective sense of support and meaning," said Dr Onuch. “These students have been through unthinkable trauma and stress in the last year - they have family and friends in harm's way, and yet they still have to write essays, sit exams, and think of finding a job. Thus, we must do all we can to support them and their ambitions.”

Students speak directly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Mon, 13 Jun 2022 11:54:15 +0100

Students from 51�� have been able to pose questions directly to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a live question and answer session.

There was such high demand for tickets for the event - which was coordinated and co-sponsored by the , and moderated by Professor Dimitris Papadimitriou of the 51�� Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence and the University’s Ukrainian Society - that a large queue soon formed outside the venue in 51�� Museum, and a second location was secured at short notice to broadcast the session in University Place.

In a wide-ranging session, Zelenskyy said that Russia wanted to wipe out Ukraine by denying its right to exist and eradicate its history. He also said that Putin is afraid of free nations, but that his autocratic model of governance belongs to the past whereas Ukraine’s belongs to the future.

The President pledged to the students that he would not give up or concede territory to Russia, and urged Ukrainian students to use their skills to help rebuild his country - he told them that they are ambassadors for the country, and that he needs them to build a "comfortable state” after the war has ended. He also said public support from people and institutions in other nations is vital to Ukraine.

He set out plans which will allow its allies to directly sponsor the rebuilding of entire cities and sectors of the economy, and mentioned that cities and countries had already linked with their Ukrainian counterparts to start planning the reconstruction.

He used part of the session to thank the United Kingdom, saying that we had been the “leader and driver” of the supply of weapons for the Ukrainian army, and thanked Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss for their support. He said that when Ukraine wins the war, they will share the victory with us.

When asked about Sweden and Finland joining NATO, he said it was a very wise choice that will help the countries to defend their people in case of Russian aggression – but he added that if Ukraine had been able to join, it “would have saved a lot of lives”.

“We were delighted to have co-hosted the Ukrainian President here in 51��, and the reaction from our students was amazing,” said Professor Papadimitriou. “At present there is no bigger issue in the world than the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and this event gave our students the opportunity to engage live with the person who is at the forefront of these historic times.”

“We were excited to speak to our President at such a difficult time, and to unite our voices with the struggle of the people of Ukraine,” said Mariia Horb, President of the University’s Ukrainian Society.

University of 51�� launches scholarships for people fleeing conflict and persecution

Thu, 09 Jun 2022 15:12:22 +0100

51�� has created fully-funded scholarships for 20 students who are fleeing war and persecution, with people now able to apply to start studying in September.

51�� Humanitarian scholarships were created in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but are open to any international applicant who has been displaced because of armed conflict or is at serious risk of persecution or violence due to race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.

There are ten undergraduate and ten postgraduate-taught places on offer in the first year and successful applicants will have their fees, living expenses and visas covered. It is expected the scheme will cost around £5m a year to operate.

Professor Nalin Thakkar, Vice-President for Social Responsibility said: “The war in Ukraine has had a devastating effect on people’s educational chances – we have many Ukrainian staff and students and they asked us what more the University could do to support their people. We are also conscious that many other people around the world can’t reach their potential because of war or persecution and wanted to help address that on a long-term basis.”

The deadline for applications is 30 June and detailed criteria are on the University website. The University will accept applications from individuals who have sought refuge in the UK as well as those who are currently living outside the UK. The scheme is flexible and anyone who is not sure if they meet the criteria should contact the University to discuss their application.

51�� Humanitarian scholarships are just one of the many on offer supporting the University’s social responsibility agenda, which include Equity and Merit Scholarships for students from sub-Saharan Africa and Undergraduate Access Scholarships for UK applicants who have been in care or estranged.

University employee completes 1600km cycling challenge to raise money for Ukraine appeal

Fri, 13 May 2022 09:00:00 +0100

A member of staff from 51�� has completed a marathon cycling challenge, raising over £3000 for in the process.

News and Media Relations Officer Joe Stafford completed the Ronde van Nederland route in 12 days, cycling a distance of 1600km - the equivalent of riding from London to the Ukrainian border. Along the way, he spoke to many people to raise the profile of the work UK-Med is doing, and posted about the journey on social media and his .

He quickly found that despite its reputation as a flat country, cycling in the Netherlands is often far from an easy ride – the east can be just as hilly as England in places, and conditions in the rest of the country can be extremely windy.

Joe says: "The last two days were so difficult due to the wind that I could barely stay upright, or even breathe properly at times – it was really tough to complete! But I was so glad that I managed it – the knowledge that I was inspiring people to donate to such a good cause kept me going at the times when I felt like giving up."

He adds: "I met so many lovely people on my journey, and was amazed at how generous the Dutch were – the whole country seemed to be involved in the Ukrainian aid effort somehow, with even the smallest of villages hosting refugee families, fundraisers happening everywhere and Ukraine flags flying from houses and buildings in most places I cycled through.

Joe raised funds for UK-Med, a charity based at 51�� which provides healthcare assistance during humanitarian crises around the world. A team of volunteer medics from the charity has set up clinics across Ukraine to provide care for the many people in need, and is also providing support and training for local healthcare staff who are having to respond to situations far beyond anything they’ve ever dealt with before.

“I want to congratulate Joe on his epic challenge to raise funds and awareness of our humanitarian work in Ukraine,” said Jackie Snell, UK-Med’s Interim Director of Fundraising. “Cycling 1600km is no easy feat, and we applaud Joe for his determination to take on this fundraiser!”

“With this donation we can get life-saving medical aid to where it's needed most, and support the rebuilding of a health system overwhelmed by war. We thank Joe and all of his supporters for their incredible generosity.”

For more information about the work UK-Med is doing in Ukraine, please visit their page.

Researchers create system to quickly identify Ukraine atrocities using social media

Mon, 11 Apr 2022 08:30:00 +0100

Experts from universities in the UK and the USA have repurposed their research activities to quickly create a system which provides a running account of atrocities taking place in Ukraine, constructed from social media accounts located in the country.

, an existing project about Ukrainians at home and abroad funded by ESRC and ORA, has responded to the humanitarian emergency by combining their expertise with that of three other institutions in the USA. Their quick thinking means they can now document and trace the displacement of people, human rights abuses, humanitarian needs and civil resistance to invasion – all in real time.

The new project analyses Twitter data using machine-learning algorithms - it is able to flag important events a few hours ahead of media outlets by demonstrating spikes of credible tweets about certain subjects the team is tracking, as well as mapping where these events take place. It focuses on four areas - humanitarian needs, displaced people, civilian resistance and human rights violations.

Dr Olga Onuch, a Ukrainian Senior Politics Lecturer from 51��, identified which accounts to monitor and created a list of more than 600 keywords for the system to check. It captures living language - for instance, a protest may be referred to in Ukrainian or Russian with the Soviet-era colloquialism of a ‘meeting’.

She hopes the work can help in two ways: in the moment, by helping aid agencies direct resources to people fleeing fighting, and in the long term, by permanently documenting abuses and atrocities for eventual justice.

In one instance, its tracking of civilian resistance and human rights abuses was able to immediately identify the beginning of a major event - Russian forces firing on peaceful protesters in the southern city of Kherson on March 21 – as it registered as a spike on one of the main graphs on the project’s website.

“It’s an early alarm system for human rights abuses,” explains Ernesto Calvo of the University of Maryland. “For it to work, we need to know two basic things: what is happening or being reported, and who is reporting those things.”

Calvo and his lab focus on the second of those two requirements, and constructed a “community detection” system to identify key groups of Twitter users from which to gather data – meaning that millions of tweets now feed into the system every day.

Erik Wibbels of Duke University handles the project’s natural language processing element, using AI and the keyword list developed by Onuch and others to analyse what the tweets are about; political science Professor Graeme Robertson of the University of North Carolina and his colleagues provide expertise on the region; and scholars from the Kyiv School of Economics are helping to validate the system’s performance.

The war in Ukraine may be the first war to use social media data in this way, but it won’t be the last - analysing social media data is likely to become an increasingly prevalent way to monitor conflicts, as well as other crises and key moments in future history, said Calvo. The tool, and the reports it is producing, also has potential for major impact on policy and human rights documentation procedures in UK and internationally.

For more information about Data for Ukraine, visit

University staff member cycling 1400km to raise money for Ukraine war victims

Wed, 30 Mar 2022 09:00:00 +0100

A member of staff from 51�� is set to cycle around the entire circumference of The Netherlands – 1400km in total – to raise funds for UK-Med’s Ukraine Appeal.

News and Media Relations Officer Joe Stafford was so moved by the images of refugees fleeing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the harrowing stories told by people in the firing line, that he decided he had to help in some way.

UK-Med - a charity based at 51�� - has provided humanitarian healthcare assistance during crises around the world, and is currently seeking to raise money to provide emergency medical aid for the millions of people displaced by the war.

Their expert medical team is currently based in Lviv, and is working tirelessly by visiting hospitals, health facilities, shelters and centres for internally displaced people to understand the critical health needs caused by the conflict. They are working closely with partners on the frontline to rapidly assess priority health needs, in order to enable them to provide support quickly to affected communities.

They hope to raise enough money to fund a range of health response options, potentially including a World Health Organisation approved facility to provide emergency care for injuries and other significant healthcare needs. , which is the size of a football field, can provide triage, first aid and treatment for minor trauma to over 100 people a day.

Joe will be cycling the challenging Ronde van Nederland route, which broadly follows the coastlines and borders around the whole of The Netherlands. Along the way, he plans to speak to as many people as he can to raise the profile of the work UK-Med is doing, and he will be posting about the journey on social media.

“I have Ukrainian colleagues and acquaintances, and what they are going through right now is simply unimaginable – their friends and families are either trapped in basements sheltering from Russian missiles, or have fled the country leaving their whole lives behind. We in the UK have a responsibility to help however we can, whether that be offering shelter through the Homes for Ukraine scheme, raising funds or donating much-needed supplies.”

“This is a wonderful thing to do on behalf of UK-Med’s work in delivering essential emergency healthcare to Ukraine and its neighbouring countries,” said 51��’s Professor Tony Redmond, who founded UK-Med. “Thank you so much Joe - every penny you raise will go towards relieving the terrible suffering of the Ukrainian people.”

To donate to Joe’s fundraising appeal, please visit , where Joe will also be posting updates about his journey. For more information about the work UK-Med is doing in Ukraine and Poland, visit their page.

£5m fund announced to provide scholarships for students and support university staff from conflict zones

Fri, 25 Mar 2022 15:34:31 +0000

Prompted by the acute need for support for students and university staff fleeing Ukraine, and similar situations around the world, 51�� is creating an emergency fund of more than £5 million. This will help to provide support initially for students and academics displaced as a result of the war in Ukraine, but is also open to those from other countries affected by armed conflict.

Funding has been put in place for an initial three-year period with a view to longer term sustainability via external funding streams.

Student Scholarships

The first element is a scholarship fund to support new students fleeing conflict, including those in Ukraine currently, who are so significantly affected by the war. The detail of the scheme needs to be worked through and will be confirmed as soon as possible. In addition, the University has a range of support systems for existing students who may be affected.

The student scholarship fund builds on the University’s existing programmes to support students, whether through its augmented Living Cost Support Fund for existing students or specific schemes to assist asylum seeker students.

Once established, the new scholarship fund will provide annual support for:

- 10 undergraduate scholarships including £11,000 stipend each year for three years, access to NHS surcharge and visa costs, with fees waived.

- 10 postgraduate taught scholarships including £15,000 stipend for one year, access to NHS surcharge and visa costs, with fees waived.

The University is also considering how it might provide support for postgraduate researchers and will update on that in due course.

We are initially investing a total of almost £5 million of direct costs and waiving of fees.

Scholarships would be available to students globally fleeing conflict zones, provisionally using the Uppsala University Conflict Data Programme database on armed conflict to set the parameters of the scheme. It is being developed with advice from the University’s Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute (HCRI) over the coming weeks and more details will be announced.

Further details on eligibility criteria and design are being finalised. Funding for scholarship support will begin in September 2022, with some flexibility on allocation in the first year to allow rapid deployment of funds.

Support for staff through CARA fellowships

The University is also committed to supporting the Council for At-Risk Academics (CARA) to provide five, two-year fellowships to support staff fleeing conflict zones The terms of a CARA fellowship allow staff to undertake research and contribute to university teaching.

A programme for professional services staff is also being considered separately.

President and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, said: “Our University is here to create a safe and inclusive environment for students and staff from the UK and around the world to study, teach, research and above all, thrive.

“We are providing direct support to new students and staff fleeing conflict, including those in Ukraine or currently displaced as a result of the Russian government’s invasion. We look forward to providing a whole-hearted 51�� welcome in the weeks and months to come.”

All details on the University’s Ukraine response can be found here, with regular updates on our position, what we are doing, how you can help, relevant news, and connections with our experts on the invasion of Ukraine.

If you’d like to support students affected by the conflict, you can make a gift to our Living Cost Support Fund . The Living Cost Support Fund exists thanks to generous alumni and donors, and forms part of the package of support available to students who have been directly impacted by the war in Ukraine. The Fund is available to any 51�� student facing unforeseen hardship during their studies.

The history and evolution of Ukrainian national identity – podcast

Fri, 18 Mar 2022 13:39:26 +0000

What does it mean to be a Ukrainian? In this episode of , we talk to three experts about the origins of Ukrainian nationalism, and how Ukrainian national identity is changing.

And we hear about a rare archive of Ukrainian dissident literature from the Soviet era, and why it’s now in danger.

History is central to understanding why the Russian invasion of Ukraine happened, and what might happen next. And in this episode, we’re exploring the history of Ukrainian national identity.

Dominique Arel, professor and holder of the chair of Ukrainian studies at the University of Ottawa in Canada, explains how Ukrainian national identity started to emerge in the 19th century, when the territory that later became Ukraine was split between the Russian empire to the east and the Austro-Hungarian empire to the west.

“The birth of Ukrainian nationalism as a mass social movement really crystallised by the first world war,” says Arel. “It was far more developed in western Ukraine than in eastern Ukraine because in the Russian empire, Ukrainian nationalism was repressed and even the Ukrainian language was banned.” Under the Soviet era, while Ukrainian nationalism was initially encouraged under Vladimir Lenin, it began to be seen as a “nationalist resistance that needed to be wiped out”, explains Arel.

When Ukraine became independent in 1991 after the fall of the Soviet Union, anyone living on the territory had a right to citizenship. At that time, a little less than identified as ethnically Russian and three-quarters as ethnically Ukrainian – alongside minorities, including Crimean Tatars. But researchers point to shifts in those identities since then.

Volodymyr Kulyk is head research fellow at the Institute of Political and Ethnic Studies at the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. He spoke to us from Kyiv. “To be Ukrainian used to mean to be Ukrainian by descent to be a Ukrainian origin or in the Soviet official parlance to be of Ukrainian nationality,” he says, explaining that nationality was “primarily understood in ethnic, hereditary terms”.

But now, Kulyk says it’s changing and more and more people are identifying as Ukrainian. “That means that more and more people who used to be Russian or who used to be other ethnicities, start identifying as Ukrainians.”

The of 2013-14 marked a turning point. Olga Onuch, a senior lecturer in politics at the University of 51�� in the UK, has been part of a number of studies surveying Ukrainians about their views and identity, and their politics. She says they’ve found that “civic identity or state attachment was extremely strong amongst Ukrainians, across linguistic and across regions”, and that it was increasing over time. “As the conflict escalated, so did support for the Ukrainian state,” says Onuch.

is also tracking shifts in political attitudes. This was incremental at first, in the years following 2014, but after the election of the current president, Volodymyr Zelensky, in 2019, Onuch says there was a “huge jump” in support for Ukraine joining the EU and NATO, which she calls the “Zelensky effect”.

Our second story brings a personal perspective to some of this history. During the Soviet era, when Ukrainian language was repressed, it was dangerous to publish Ukrainian political and cultural texts within Ukraine. One man, Wolodymyr “Mirko” Pylyshenko, in the diaspora Ukrainian community in the US began collecting this dissident literature. His daughter, Katja Kolcio, an associate professor of dance and environmental studies at Wesleyan University in the US, tells the story of the archive – and why it’s now in danger. (From 36 minutes)

And Moina Spooner, news editor for The Conversation in Nairobi, Kenya, recommends some analysis marking the two-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic. (From 48m)

This episode of The Conversation Weekly was produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. You can find us on Twitter , on Instagram at or via email. You can also sign up to The Conversation’s .

Newsclips in this episode are from , , , , and .

You can listen to The Conversation Weekly via any of the apps listed above, download it directly via our , or find out how else to .

, Editor and Co-Host, The Conversation Weekly Podcast, and , Assistant Science Editor & Co-Host of The Conversation Weekly Podcast,

This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. Read the .

Psychologists use Syrian experience to help Ukrainian families

Thu, 17 Mar 2022 17:49:13 +0000

A two-page leaflet developed from the experience of displaced Syrian parents living through the country’s civil war has been updated and translated into Ukrainian and other languages in the hope it will make a difference for families.

You can download The University of 51�� leaflet in Ukrainian, Russian, English, Polish , Romanian, Dutch and German

The leaflet is read aloud in several languages in , and

More UNODC and University of 51�� collaborative family skills resources, including those translated for the Ukrainian crisis, are available on the UNODC

The leaflet is based on the research of Dr Aala El-Khani, a University of 51�� psychologist and parenting trainer who developed numerous family skills interventions and parenting resources based on her experiences working with Syrian refugees in Syria, Turkey and the UK.

The academic, who is of Syrian heritage herself, worked with Professor Rachel Calam, Professor of Child and Family Psychology and Dr Kim Cartwright at 51��, to produce the leaflet.

It explained that anxiety, nightmares, bedwetting, withdrawal and even aggression are normal responses to childhood trauma, and offered basic reminders and suggestions for looking after themselves and their children.

Working with a humanitarian organization in Syria, 3000 leaflets were printed and distributed with humanitarian bread supplies to families inside the war-torn country.

Research shows that one of the most important predictors for the mental health of children who experience conflict and displacement is the way that they are cared for by their families. Warm, positive parenting can help buffer children from psychological harm.

Professor Rachel, Callam said: “We know that good family relationships are an important way to promote children’s mental wellbeing, which can help to counteract their actual experience in wartime - appalling though that may be.

“If families can provide warm, positive and secure parenting, that can be powerfully protective, and this information helps them to achieve just that.”

Dr El-Khani works as an international consultant for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), where she and Professor Calam have co-developed a number of other family skills resources in response to crisis contexts globally that are also now being utilised in many countries.

She told the in an interview that every displaced parent she met was struggling with emotional or behavioural changes in their children.

“Some had gone looking for advice, asking camp doctors, teachers and NGO. But these people were too overwhelmed with their own roles or didn’t have the knowledge to help,” she told them.

A talk by Dr El-Khani’s called “What it’s like to be a parent in a war zone”, which has had 1.1 million views so far, and was made an Editor's Pick on the front page.

Seeing this leaflet, one relief worker in Romania said:

"So really helpful, at first hand all the info guidance and advices, Will make sure to have printed out forms and given to parents in need that cross the border from Ukraine to Romania.”

Another said:

"Thank you for this valuable resource. We will use it among our networks and share it with those who are helping to provide pastoral support for traumatised Ukrainian refugees.”

Following feedback from refugee families, the team have developed a more detailed booklet, giving more information on parenting through conflict and displacement, which can be downloaded here. Caregivers may find it helpful to sit together and talk through this with other families.

More UNODC and University of 51�� collaborative family skills resources, including those translated for the Ukrainian crisis, are available on this

University staff evacuate students from Russia after invasion of Ukraine

Tue, 15 Mar 2022 10:58:12 +0000

As the world’s eyes fell on Ukraine following the Russian invasion of its borders, staff from 51��’s International Programmes Office (IPO) had to focus their gaze on getting our students back to the UK.

At the time of the initial invasion the University had 14 Russian Studies students in Russia. A majority were based in St Petersburg, but some were on language programmes in more remote locations. After getting seven students back to the UK safely and quickly, the challenging situation was made more difficult as airspace closed, flights ceased and the financial sanctions started to hit. This meant the team had to evacuate the remaining students via a combination of train and buses across the border to Tallinn in Estonia.

On coping with the ever-changing scenario Lisa Stoker, International Programmes Officer from the IPO, said: “You do feel under pressure, but you need to be ready and prepared to change your original plans in a heartbeat. Things can take a different direction very quickly.”

IPO Manager, Dr Caroline Whitehand, Senior Lecturer in Russian Studies, Dr Rachel Platonov and Lisa, worked in excess of 100 hours between them over just three days to get our students home safely.

As well as the mental and emotional pressures, the team had to navigate the rapidly evolving geopolitical situation. Dr Whitehand explains: “the constant re-working of our plans as sanctions took effect was very challenging. There was a very real concern as to how quickly the situation could deteriorate and our capacity to support the students in the worst-case scenarios.”

It is those worst-case scenarios, however, that the team must constantly be prepared for as a natural part of their job. Whilst the current situation is undoubtedly horrific, this isn’t the first time IPO staff have been called into action due to unprecedented global events.

Dr Whitehand: “We’ve had to evacuate students from some very challenging and distressing situations over the years, from students in Egypt and Syria during the Arab Spring to students caught-up in devastating earthquakes in Japan and Nepal, and the many students trying to get home as borders closed at the start of the pandemic.”

It is a role that, unsurprisingly, can weigh heavy on the staff. Dr Whitehand added: “Our students and ultimately their parents and guardians are trusting us to navigate them through what for many is one of the scariest situations they’ve ever had to face.”

It’s not just their colleagues and students the team are worried about. For Dr Platonov the personal concerns are also extremely real: “During the immediate crisis I was able to focus on what needed to be done, though juggling this alongside other aspects of my role, like teaching, was difficult. But what continues to take the biggest emotional and mental toll is concern for my loved ones in the conflict zone.”

Whilst the intense nature of the work and the consequences that surround it has been exhausting, these colleagues are thankful to each other and the students for how everyone worked together. Dr Whitehand: “I am immensely grateful for the humanity, empathy and humour of the colleagues who worked alongside me, to the students who showed such resilience, and to wider colleagues across the University who offered support.” Lisa added: “I worked alongside a great team, and the messages we received from students showing their gratitude and thanks for all our hard work were lovely to receive.” And Dr Platonov concluded “I hope that we never have to encounter a situation like this again! However, I am so grateful to everyone involved for their sterling work.”

On his colleagues’ collective work, Director for the Student Experience, Dr Simon Merrywest, said: “This was an outstanding effort and really exemplifies the care and focus for our students that our staff have. Let us all applaud and thank Caroline, Rachel, Lisa and the wider team for sacrificing their own time to selflessly support the safety and wellbeing of our students and their families.”

51�� charity launches urgent appeal to provide Ukraine medical aid

Thu, 10 Mar 2022 11:31:27 +0000

A humanitarian charity based at 51�� has launched an urgent Ukraine Appeal, as it seeks to raise money to provide emergency medical aid for the millions of people displaced by the Russian invasion of the country.

, which was founded by Professor Tony Redmond OBE in 1995, has provided humanitarian healthcare assistance during emergencies around the world. It has launched the appeal with the backing of Greater 51�� Mayor Andy Burnham, as the crisis deepens in Ukraine and its neighbouring countries.

More than two million people have already fled the country, many of whom left with just the clothes on their backs and a few meagre possessions. Tens of thousands have injuries or pre-existing health conditions, and temperatures across the region are still dropping below freezing.

The World Health Organisation has reported dangerously low oxygen supplies inside Ukraine, and vaccinations have stopped despite the fact that only 40% of the country’s population had been vaccinated for Covid-19, and it had been battling a polio outbreak since last October.

As the number of civilian casualties and deaths continues to rise and hospitals are bombed by the Russian forces, healthcare workers both inside and outside Ukraine need urgent support with surgical and trauma care.

A UK-Med team has flown to Poland to meet potential partners, understand more about the refugee health needs on the Polish border, and discuss how it can support the emerging health emergency triggered by the conflict. The charity is now also providing support in Ukraine itself by embedding its surgical team into overwhelmed hospitals.

The money will support their roving medical teams who are working across Poland and Ukraine, but could also fund a World Health Organisation approved Health Facility to provide initial emergency care of injuries and other significant healthcare needs. , which is the size of a football field, can provide triage, first aid and treatment for minor trauma to over 100 people a day.

“UK-Med expresses its gravest concern for the safety, health and well-being of all those affected by the humanitarian tragedy which is fast unfolding in Ukraine and its bordering countries,” said UK-Med CEO David Wightwick. “Our charity saves lives in emergencies, and we believe everyone should have the healthcare they need when disasters and crises hit. When health systems are overwhelmed, we get expert health teams to where they are needed fast. Europe is on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe - that’s why it’s vital that we are sending a team of experts to talk with our partners and assess how we can best support those most in need.”

"51�� has a proud history of responding to humanitarian crises,” said Professor Tony Redmond OBE. “51�� has always been part of this, and it has social responsibility as one of its three core goals. To this end it has facilitated the work of UK-Med and developed the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute, establishing a unique partnership working to the benefit of the most needy in their times of need".

To donate to the Ukraine Appeal please go to: . For further details on how to support UK-Med, please contact Director of Communications and Fundraising Jackie Snell at Jackie.snell@uk-med.org.

You can stay up to date with developments on UK-Med’s , , and pages.

Ukraine’s opiate users: Russian invasion has severely disrupted access to drug-treatment services

Wed, 09 Mar 2022 17:54:47 +0000

Ukrainians inject drugs like heroin regularly. As of January, 14,868 of them were receiving substitute opiates such as methadone and buprenorphine.

Ukraine these treatment services since 2017. In that year, it also rapidly expanded its services for people in need of sterile syringes, condoms and peer support or counselling – the World Health Organization-recommended for harm reduction among drug users and those at risk of HIV.

The Russian invasion has severely disrupted access to these specialist drug-treatment services. Before the war, some people would collect their methadone daily, but the Ministry of Health that a 15-30 days’ supply should be given. This helps to reduce the number of trips to services, which in some parts of the country are risky. Yet even at this early stage in the war, ensuring people can secure medication is proving difficult.

Of the 1,328 people registered with drug services in Kyiv, so far, most have been able to get their opiate substitution medication. But services in other parts of the country aren’t faring so well. They are either running out of supplies or contact has been lost with local drug treatment teams.

Without this daily supply, people will develop symptoms. Although these are not life-threatening, they are extremely uncomfortable at a time when people are already experiencing significant stress. We know that food, water and safe accommodation for many in Ukraine.

An increasing number of Ukrainians are leaving the country, in neighbouring countries. The Ministry of Health is trying to reach an agreement with its neighbours to ensure care is continued for those who need treatment for tuberculosis or HIV.

The International Narcotics Control Board these countries to ensure there is also access to substitute opiates for refugees. Negotiations have been taking place between Ukrainian officials and health authorities in Moldova, Romania and Poland to ensure injecting drug users can continue to get treatment, though it is not clear how much effort or success there has been.

There are in the way neighbouring countries provide treatment to those who are dependent on drugs like opiates. Some countries are not as progressive as Ukraine in their attitudes to people who use drugs. Recent ceasefires have opened up humanitarian corridors to Belarus and Russia, both of which to treatment – hardly enticing options for people in need.

Future looks bleak for drug users if Russia wins

President Putin has made clear his disdain of people who use drugs, most Ukrainian leaders of being a “gang of drug addicts and neo-Nazis”.

In 2011, “total war” on the country’s drug problem. It is difficult to source reliable estimates of how many Russians now have problems with drugs, though of debates held in the Russian parliament between 2014 and 2018 suggest about 8 million Russians use drugs regularly. This compares with 6 million in 2011. It is not clear what proportion depends on or needs treatment.

After decades of official denial that drug use existed in the Soviet Union, the post-Soviet authorities were forced to acknowledge the HIV/Aids epidemic in the 1990s. This was linked to injecting drug use, which for 40% of new HIV infections in Russia.

An increasing number of Russians have developed problems with drugs such as heroin; a suggested that 3 million Russians are injecting drugs. Many of these people don’t have access to harm-reduction services such as needle and syringe exchange schemes. Without these, the risk of contracting HIV and other blood-borne viruses is increased.

Russia is also the among the 47 member states of the Council of Europe that prohibits opioid substitution therapy. The prospect of long-term occupation by Russia therefore has deeply negative implications for harm reduction services in Ukraine.

Russia’s domestic drug policy has been counterproductive in fuelling disease spread, stigma and human rights abuses. There is no doubt that people who use drugs are vulnerable during conflicts, and those risks are amplified considerably when an invasion is orchestrated by a president who has complete contempt for them.

Ukrainians dependent on drugs have a right to healthcare. But that support looks to be evaporating quickly, albeit not for the lack of courage by those trying to provide treatment during this conflict.

, Associate Professor of Addiction, and , Professor, Criminology, . This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. Read the .

How to write to your MP if you’re concerned about the crisis in Ukraine

Wed, 09 Mar 2022 17:44:19 +0000

We’ve all been moved and concerned by the events taking place in Ukraine, and many of us want to know how we can help. As governments around the world respond, you may be wondering how you can push our own government to do more or to respond differently. Here’s how to contact your MP if you are concerned about the conflict in Ukraine –– and what difference it will make if you do.

How do I contact my MP?

The first step is to check who your MP is by using this . Once you know who they are, you can then choose how to contact them. All MPs can be contacted by post (just send your letter to House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA) or by email.

The MP search tool will also show you their official email address. Parliamentary rules mean that MPs can only respond to communication from their own constituents, so it’s really important that you send your letter or email to your own MP.

What should I write?

People write to their MPs for all sorts of reasons, including asking for help with services such as benefits and tax or to discuss matters relating to immigration, the NHS and child support. These sorts of letters are usually dealt with by the MP’s constituency office, which will be based in your local area.

You can also write to your MP about bigger issues relating to national government policy – including foreign affairs issues like the Ukraine conflict. It’s a good idea to say what you want your MP to do. For instance, are you writing because you would like your MP to vote in a particular way in parliament on an upcoming issue? In the case of Ukraine, it may be that you’d like your MP to push the government to take more action, or a different course of action. It’s also a good idea to set out your reasons for wanting this particular course of action.

Perhaps you want them to sign an (EDM) – a request for parliament to hold a debate on a specific issue. In practice, these work a bit like petitions, demonstrating which MPs agree with proposals and raising awareness of campaigns or events. MPs write them and encourage their colleagues to sign them in support of a particular issue. Recent EDMs include a request from Labour MP Clive Betts that Uefa to outside Russia.

Should I write my own message or use a template?

Sometimes campaign groups provide a template to copy and paste when you contact your MP, or they may ask you to use an online form (see here from Amnesty International on the recent policing bill). This may be pre-filled with requests and explanations. Even if you agree with all of what the group is asking for, it’s a good idea to put these into your own words. If the issue affects you or your family personally, then say so.

Individually crafted letters and emails are often more persuasive and carry more weight than hundreds of identical emails. Although we typically only contact our MPs when we want to complain or object to something – you can also write to show your support for an issue or decision too. These letters are typically (though not always) dealt with by your MP’s staff at Westminster.

What if I didn’t vote for my MP?

It doesn’t matter if you didn’t vote for your MP or if you are a member or supporter of another party. They represent all of their constituents and regardless of political affiliation, your correspondence will be dealt with in the same way.

What happens next?

If you have contacted your MP about a personal issue, they will get back to you and let you know if they are able to help by letter, email or phone call.

If you asked about a policy issue, there are several options available to your MP. In all cases, you should receive a message back from your MP with their own thoughts on the issue. They may say why they agree or disagree with you or explain how they have raised the issue in parliament. Your MP may forward your message to a government minister and ask for a response, which they will then forward to you.

Sometimes an MP will raise a constituent’s issue in the House of Commons chamber. A of Hansard (the record of parliamentary debates) over the last year shows over 150 explicit references to constituents’ concerns in this way. Labour MP Barbara Keeley, for example, for clarification around visa rules on behalf of one of her constituents who was trying to bring family members over from Ukraine.

Only a few constituency correspondence will be mentioned in the chamber in this way, and your MP will let you know if and when this happens.

Is it worth it?

There is much value in writing to your MP. After all, it is difficult for them to represent their constituents in parliament if they don’t know what they are thinking. MPs need to see both sides of the debate to decide how to vote. Letters and emails are particularly valuable as part of a broader campaign where they can help to build momentum behind an issue. If lots of MPs raise the same issue with a government minister, its significance and importance will grow.

It doesn’t really make much difference whether your MP sits on the government or the opposition benches, and, in fact, cross-party campaigns .

However, if your MP is a government minister, whip of parliamentary private secretary, there will be some restrictions on what they can and can’t do. They aren’t allowed to sign EDMs, for instance.

Is there anything else I can do?

Another good way of showing MPs what you think about issues is to . these can be a very powerful tool to express concern or dissatisfaction with government policy. The government responds to all petitions that receive 10,000 signatures. And those that reach 100,000 are considered for debate in parliament – including calling for more support for Ukrainian refugees.

, Senior Lecturer in Politics, . This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. Read the .

Will Alex Salmond’s RT show make him a Kremlin tool?

Wed, 15 Nov 2017 10:38:54 +0000

, and ,

The decision of former Scottish first minister Alex Salmond to front a weekly political chat show on Russian international channel RT has been across the British political and media mainstream. Why would a prominent Western politician risk his reputation by colluding with what many believe to be an propaganda instrument of the Kremlin?

RT’s interest in Salmond is easy enough to fathom. The channel has been sympathetic to Scottish independence, of which Salmond remains a leading proponent. You might expect Putin to back anything that undermines the UK, of course. Hence Sputnik, another state-owned Russian news outlet, an Edinburgh office.

Arguably, RT is more focused on the UK after to register as a foreign agent. The Alex Salmond Show was unveiled soon after , which is a means of extending reach ahead of Russia’s World Cup next year. RT also seems to have a following in Scotland, with pro-independence youth making up a significant proportion of its Twitter followers.

Editorial power

Salmond has been guaranteed full editorial independence, making the show with his own company and not in-house at RT. He he has appeared on RT several times and was once very critical of Russia’s actions in Syria. RT often publicises the full independence it grants star presenters, as a point of difference with the likes of the BBC. is another example and is made by the host’s production company.

The channel formerly known as Russia Today has definitely evolved since its 2005 launch, partly in response to worsening relations between Russia and the West. Having launched to project a positive Russia to the world, it morphed into the channel of choice for those hostile to perceived US hegemony, then became a propaganda weapon for the Russian state in the “information war” that following the 2014 Ukraine crisis.

On the whole, however, RT is a mixed bag. It has broadcast some crude, misleading – and – material as news. Some shows are so biased as to be an affront to the intellect. Yet other stories really do provide alternative perspectives on important events. RT’s Yemen coverage has been impressive, for example, while large parts of the Western media have turned a blind eye to the conflict.

It is therefore simplistic to characterise RT merely as a tool of Kremlin propaganda, with chief executive Margarita Simonyan dutifully carrying out endless instructions from Vladimir Putin. For one thing, Kremlin narratives must be made suitable for the foreign environments in which RT operates. This means ignoring some Kremlin positions and even contradicting others – RT’s of gay culture during the Sochi Olympics was a case in point.

Presenters such as Oksana Boiko, Larry King and George Galloway have strong independent personalities and are never going to be state operatives. Others, including and Martyn Andrews, have been unafraid to contradict Putin in the past (though in 2015). The further from senior management, the more likely it is that the “Kremlin narrative” will be transformed.

Donald Trump on Larry King’s show. RT

Meanwhile, a earlier this year was probably wrong to conflate RT’s output with the “hackers”, “trolls” and “bots” who interfered in US and French elections (the Western media their impact in any case). The report’s credibility was undermined by drawing on material from 2009.

Western drift

So you need a of RT to make sense of why someone like Salmond would work with it. Salmond’s show is a marriage of convenience between two opportunistic agents. It is also an indication of how the ideological landscape has reconfigured over the past two decades – as Western power ebbs to China. Brexit may be the dying gasp of Great Britain, clinging to its image as an imperial power capable of thriving alone; meanwhile, the rise of Scottish nationalism merely confirms the danger of the UK fragmenting.

It should also be said that Putin’s paranoid aggression on the international stage is Russia’s own version of the last imperial gasp. In this sense, the alliance of Salmond and RT is entirely logical: two antagonists seeking to dismantle the British state for different reasons.

The outrage in the UK at RT’s opportunism overlooks the growing global market for alternative output created by worldwide : the growing hostility in many parts of the world to Western superiority, to journalistic objectivity and impartiality, to parliamentary democracy, to Western capitalist monopolies.

Salmond, having exhibited open contempt for of the BBC and the London establishment against Scottish nationalism in the past, is clearly confident his RT show will not be met with the same outrage throughout Scotland – albeit current first minister Nicola Sturgeon a different view. All the same, imagine how far removed attitudes are likely to be in Latin America or India or the Middle East.

In the end, Salmond’s initiative is a gamble. Whether British politicians should appear on RT cannot be answered simply. It’s one thing to appear on Worlds Apart, where Boiko conducts interviews in an open and often vicious debate. It’s quite another to appear on RT “flagship show” Cross-Talk, where real debate is usually a pretence and Putin’s critics are outnumbered by his supporters.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and the many other politicians from mainstream British political parties who have appeared on RT presumably consider that the importance of the issues they are appearing to talk about outweigh the risks of being seen to legitimise Putin. Equally, for others, the particular means that is RT will never justify such an end.

Salmond has in the past proved an astute reader of the political runes. RT represents for him a platform for indulging his career and promoting the causes he believes in.

It is therefore premature to conclude that Salmond’s latest venture marks his decline into irrelevance and disrepute. What it means for RT, and for the so-called information war is rather less clear – and perhaps still more intriguing.

, Professor Of Russian Studies, and , Sir William Mather Professor of Russian Studies,

This article was originally published on . Read the .

‘Post-truth’ media really is shifting the news agenda – and more subtly than it seems

Fri, 01 Sep 2017 08:00:00 +0100

Proceed with caution.

As stories of Russian “information warfare” in continue to mount, governments, intelligence agencies and journalists are fretting over the influence of global media outlets funded by autocratic governments. But while these organisations are clearly meant to serve their sponsor governments’ agendas in various ways, is the West right to be so worried about them?

Information campaigning in various forms is as old as politics itself, and nor is it the sole province of political bogeymen. Research shows that at influencing foreign public opinion, and businesses, politicians and states all use the mass media strategically for their information campaigns.

Whether this is public relations, public diplomacy, or propaganda is a . But the names we give a particular information campaign not only reflect our inferences about its aims; they can in fact .

A case in point is the Kremlin-funded international broadcaster RT, formerly Russia Today. The network has for its “misleading” coverage, even as it gathered for its investigative reporting. It was even in 2011 as an example of an “information war” she said the West was losing – unwittingly describing things to come in .

The network’s PR strategy skilfully uses these criticisms to cater to the biases of an anti-establishment generation. Its motto encourages viewers to “Question More”, and its various have successfully exhibited Western contempt and suspicion as a .

Yet despite the concerns of high-ranking figures, the US State Department has claimed none of the US$80m recently allocated by Congress for informational countermeasures, and the bulk of the funds will . Some fear that the US is by leading a counter-disinformation offensive, leaving the legwork to initiatives like the dashboard, which claims to track Russian-backed influence campaigns across the web and social media.

But just how much influence RT and similar outlets wield is very much open to question.

Flattering bias

While many in US intelligence and politics seem to take RT’s self-reported audience figures as read, the channel’s official data is optimistic compared to its . And despite RT’s at being “the most watched news network on YouTube”, most of its views go to apolitical clickbait human interest stories and coverage of natural disasters.

Some that RT’s smaller political audience is self-selecting: those who mistrust the mainstream establishment and are partial to conspiracy theories. However, this is all guesswork: so far, there has been little scholarly attention to RT’s audience engagement, despite its social media advantage over its competitors during events. (51�� and Open University will soon address this knowledge gap with the project, the first systematic examination of RT’s audiences, ethos and multiplatform output.)

While RT may have limited capacity to influence those not already sympathetic to its aims, its reach across social and traditional media, and freedom from any commitment to impartiality, equip it perfectly for an atmosphere of rumour and counter-rumour.

This brings us back to Donald Trump and his ongoing crusade against the mainstream media.

Trump echoes RT’s that all news reporting is biased in some way, and his social media output clearly flatters the views of his followers and allies. Trump’s tweets are, intentionally or not, perfectly calibrated to exploit the same effect as RT: audiences content that accords with their political beliefs, and that does not correspond to their biases.

This effect is even clearer where people have strong political beliefs and social media networks, because algorithms into our social media experience. Counterintuitively, we’re most likely to enter into debate with people with similar views to our own, not those who we perceive as and who can offer an alternative world view.

Worst of all, if much of your social media following is made up of automated “bots” primed to repeat, circulate and amplify particular messages – as in Trump’s case – then the volume of echoes increases exponentially. The result? Political opinions are polarised, with completely fabricated stories more widely (and ) than genuine news.

Playing the mainstream

These patterns are strongest among more groups, especially those on the political “fringe”. While less partisan audiences still , the agenda of the mainstream media is nonetheless shifting in response to fringe groups’ online interactions. As mainstream outlets report on social media trends, they amplify , particularly when the stories reflect their ideological stance.

But the effect is not uniform across the political spectrum. shows that conservative news websites are more likely than liberal ones to propagate fabricated stories, and conservative individuals are more likely to believe them – but that liberal media outlets are more likely to change their agenda in response.

Crucially, fact-checking disputed stories does not help. Fact-check articles are than the stories they attack, and can actually help to audiences who are prone to . More than that, merely fact-checking articles on fringe topics only makes those topics .

Fears about particular outlets’ “propaganda” stories are misplaced, since those stories generally only influence self-selecting “fringe” groups. What’s really concerning is how these groups repeat and amplify their preferred messages, and how their efforts influence media agendas and shift the parameters of political debate. With trust in the media , people are increasingly consulting partisan alternatives.

That not only opens the field for players like RT, but polarises social discussion to the point of outright conflict. And as recent events in prove, that conflict is not confined to the online world.

, Post-doctoral Research Associate, Reframing Russia for the Global Mediasphere,