Members of the faculty at Lincoln Land Community College held a roundtable discussion Wednesday to offer background, perspective, and analysis on the rapidly changing crisis in Ukraine as Russia’s invasion of that country enters a second week.
Chris McDonald, professor of political science; Matt Schownir, assistant professor of history; and Samuel Barbour, instructor of economics spoke to an audience of students prior to a period of open discussion/Q&A.
And there were indeed more questions than answers in the face of evermore erratic moves by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Is Putin insane?
“The only person who knows what’s going on in Vladimir Putin’s head is Vladimir Putin,” said Schownir. “Not too many people are privy to any personal factors that could be driving a lot of these decisions that, right now, seem impulsive or a bit less thought out or calculated than we would expect from someone like him.”
There has been conjecture of late about the sixty-nine-year-old Russian leader’s physical health as well as mental state.
Amid the uncertainties—the effect prolonged sanctions will have on Russia and, in turn, on world markets should the conflict carry over into the summer.
According to Barbour, “We don’t know what long-term sanctions look like. We don’t know what the effect on markets will be. If the invasion goes on, you could see how the summer wheat harvest would be impacted, and that could have a worsening effect on inflation.”
Absent long-term solutions, Professor McDonald did offer this imperative for the short term: “We want to stop people dying, and then there’s the room to work through other issues.”