Today I was able to go to and listen to a Clarke Forum that talked about the Ukrainian Russian war a year after the original attack starting the war. One of the panelists was talking about statistic on the people of Russia on their feelings about the war and how they should handle the relations with Ukraine going forward, 44% wants military action while 46% wants treaties to be discussed. Another panelist talked about the level of support for Ukraine, the west has done a lot of things for support with the EU giving funds for arms and weapons to another country, which is known as a political institution not military institution.

One of the panelists talked about NATOs response towards the invasion of Ukraine. NATO had responded to Russian aggression to Ukraine by setting up battle groups in the Baltic states and Poland, which was to deter the Russians to encroach on a NATO member. NATO then double battle groups in the eastern allies from the prevalent threat of Russia. NATO also pledge to create a response force to help and aid if Russia attacked. NATO has helped with relations with EU and other countries to aid Ukraine.
One aspect of this forum that I realized related back to what I have learned in class is the form of institutions and their importance in the international system. Earlier in the year he had talked about different perspectives, for example, such as the realism perspective.

This forum made me realize that I agree with the realism perspective in that institutions should be favored in the international system, especially when it involves war and attacks on nations. As well, with realist thinking that states live in an anarchical international system where states are primarily concerned with their own interest and security I immediately thought about Russia and the way the panelists were describing Russia when attacking Ukraine. Russia see’s Ukraine as a key buffer zone between itself and NATO and views the expansion of NATO into Ukraine as a threat to its security.
Ukraine response can also be seen through a realist lens in that Ukraine has sought to resist Russian aggression and to assert its sovereignty and territorial integrity. From the realist perspective Ukraine decision to seek closer ties with the West can be seen as a desire to counterbalance Russia’s power and to align itself with a powerful ally.