Westminster College Professor of Political Science Dr. Michael Aleprete presented a paper at the International Studies Association’s 66th annual convention, March 2-5, in Chicago.

His paper, “Neither NATO Expansion nor Color Revolution: How Russian Foreign Policy Choices Led to its Conflict with Ukraine,” questions the extent to which Russian foreign policy towards Ukraine was driven by fears of NATO expansion or fears about the prospects for democracy in Ukraine.

“Examining Ukrainian-Russian relations between the election of Ukraine’s last pro-Russian President, Victor Yanukovych in 2010 and the Maidan Uprising in February 2014 reveals that during this period there was very little risk of either NATO expansion or Ukrainian democratization,” said Aleprete. “Yet Russia continued to seek greater control over Ukrainian trade policy in an effort to integrate them into the emerging Eurasian economic structures and block them from establishing further trade relations with the European Union.”

Aleprete also participated in two conference roundtable discussions: “Teaching Russia in a Time of War” and “Russia’s Challenge to the Global Order.” This year’s conference theme was “Reconnecting International Studies.”

Additionally, Aleprete—a member of the ISA since 1999—was elected to the executive committee of the ISA’s Russian, Eurasian and Eastern Europe section.

The ISA is one of the oldest interdisciplinary associations dedicated to understanding international, transnational and global affairs. Founded in 1959, its more than 7,000 members span the globe—comprising academics, practitioners, policy experts, private sector workers and independent researchers.

Aleprete completed his undergraduate degree at Duquesne University and earned his master’s and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Pittsburgh. Trained in the areas of international conflict, international relations theory and the comparative politics of the former Soviet Union, his research interests include U.S. and Russian foreign policy, the political geography of border areas, nationalism and third party interventions in war.

For more information about Aleprete’s paper, please contact him at alepreme@westminster.edu.

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