Why did Russia attack Ukraine and what are its geopolitical implications?

This ANU Public Lecture will examine why President Putin decided to invade Ukraine and what the implications are for international order, including the risk of a wider war in Europe and the potential use of nuclear weapons.

Networking drinks will begin from 5.30pm in the Hedley Bull Atrium, followed by the 6pm lecture in Hedley Bull Lecture Theatre 1.

This event will be livestreamed and a link to the livestream will be sent in the confirmation and reminder emails.

About the speaker

Paul Dibb is Emeritus Professor of strategic studies at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre. He was Head of the Centre from 1991 to 2004.

His previous positions include Deputy Secretary for Strategy and Intelligence in the Department of Defence, Director of the Defence Intelligence Organisation, and Head of the National Assessments Staff in the National Intelligence Committee.

He is the author of 5 books and 4 reports to government, as well as more than 150 academic articles and monographs about the security of the Asia-Pacific region, the US alliance, and Australia's defence policy. He wrote the 1986 Review of Australia's Defence Capabilities (the Dibb Report) and was the primary author of the 1987 Defence White Paper.

About the moderator

Natalie Sambhi is Founder and Executive Director of Verve Research, an independent research collective focussed on the relationship between militaries and societies in Southeast Asia. She is also a Non-Resident Fellow with the Brookings Institution's Foreign Policy Program and a PhD scholar at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, The Australian National University.