Lecture Series – Russia’s War in Ukraine: One Year Later

Russia has been conducting a large-scale military invasion of Ukraine since February 24, 2021.  Two important aspects of the war (a “special military operation” in Vladimir Putin’s parlance) that the talk will emphasize are: (a) the military successes and failures of Ukraine and Russia, and (b) the response of the U.S. and NATO to the conflict, particularly the impact of sanctions imposed upon Russia.  Following the talk will be plenty of time for questions about these and other elements of the conflict.

George E. (Gerry) Hudson (Ph.D. in Political Science, Indiana University; Certificate, Russian and East European Institute, Indiana University; B.A. in Russian Language and Literature and M.A in Political Science, University of Colorado) is retired as Professor of Political Science and Director and founder of the Russian and Central Eurasian Studies Program at Wittenberg University, where he taught from 1972 to 2012. He served as Chair of Wittenberg’s Department of Political Science for fifteen years.  From 2013 to 2019, he taught as a Lecturer in the Department of Political Science at The Ohio State University and, from 1974 to 2019, was a Faculty Affiliate of OSU’s Mershon Center for International Security Studies.  Hudson served on the advisory board of the Center for Slavic and East European Studies at OSU.  He specializes in Russian security issues and Russian-American relations.  During his career, Hudson made approximately two dozen separate trips to the Soviet Union and Russia.

He is editor of and contributor to Soviet National Security Policy Under Perestroika, co-editor (with Joseph Kruzel) of American Defense Annual, 1985-86, and has written over ninety articles, op-ed pieces, letters, and conference papers about Russia and the Soviet Union in books and journals, including World Politics, Soviet Studies, Crossroads, Foreign Affairs, Strategic Assessment, and The Russian Review.  His opinion pieces have appeared in The Christian Science Monitor, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Plain Dealer (Cleveland), the Dayton Daily News, the Springfield News-Sun, and the Columbus Dispatch.  

Hudson has received grants for his research from the Fulbright Association, the International Research and Exchanges Board, the National Science Foundation, the Carnegie Foundation, and the Council on Foreign Relations. The Council grant (he was an International Affairs Fellow) allowed him to serve as an advisor on Soviet affairs in the US Department of Defense (1978-1979), where he worked on arms control issues and served on the US negotiating team to reduce conventional armaments in Central Europe.  His first Fulbright grant permitted him to teach for a year in Moscow (1995-96) and his second, to teach and do research for a semester in Tbilisi, Georgia (2010-2011). In addition to teaching at Wittenberg and The Ohio State University, he has also taught at the U.S. Military Academy, West Point (1983-84). He is the recipient of the U.S. Department of the Army’s Outstanding Civilian Service Medal.

Date: Tuesday March 7, 2023
Time: 6:30pm
Location: Crescent Grange, 7901 W 120th Ave, Broomfield CO 80020