Lifelong Learning Program

War in Ukraine: At the Brink of Nuclear War?  
Dr. Christoph Stefes, Professor, Political Science
University of Colorado Denver 

Tuesday, November 29, 2022 
12:00 pm – 1:30 pm (Mountain)
Hybrid format – in-person and online options 
Click to Register

In-person:
1475 Lawrence Street (CU Denver Business School)
4th Floor, BUS-4500 
In-person registration limited to the first 40 participants 

Online: 
Zoom link will be sent to all registrants who select to attend online on November 22 

Program Overview:
In February 2022, CU Denver’s Institute for International Business (IIB) hosted a lecture by Dr. Christoph Stefes, Professor, Political Science, College of Liberal Arts and Science.  The lecture, “Back in the USSR: What Does Putin Want and How Should the US Respond?” was attended by 200+ faculty, staff, administrators and students from the CU system and its four campuses, as well as guests from the IIB’s business and academic partners. The IIB is pleased to invite Professor Stefes back to speak at the International Executive Roundtable and give us an update on the Ukraine-Russia War.

Almost a year into the war, Ukraine has recently been able to push back Russian forces. Unexpectedly, it has made significant territorial gains. Yet, Russia has not responded well. It has formally annexed four Ukrainian territories in gross violation of international law. It has bombed Kyiv for the first time in months. It has threatened to use non-strategic nuclear missiles to protect its territory, including the annexed territories. The escalation of the war raises numerous questions. Can Ukraine actually win this war? Will Russia use nuclear weapons? How have Ukrainian advances impacted the political dynamics in Moscow? Christoph Stefes will try to answer these and questions in his talk.

Dr. Christoph Stefes
Prof. Stefes was born and raised in West Germany. He received his BA in History and German Literature at the University of Tübingen, Germany, studied European Integration and International Relations in Groningen, The Netherlands, and received his MA and PhD from the Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver. In his dissertation, he analyzed structures of corruption in post-Soviet Georgia where he taught and researched in 1998/99. Since 2002, he has been a professor for Comparative European & Post-Soviet Studies at the Political Science Department of the University of Colorado Denver. In his research and teaching, he focuses on democracy and democratization, stability of dictatorships, corruption, and (more recently) on the politics of energy transitions and environmental crime. He has published numerous books and articles on these issues. He taught in Denver, Sarajevo, Beijing, and Berlin and conducted research in Norway, Germany, Georgia, Armenia, and Uzbekistan. He is the director of “Berlin: Bridging Global Divides”, a study-abroad program that brings about a dozen students each year from Denver to Berlin to attend lectures and conduct internships.

International Executive Roundtables
International Executive Roundtables are hosted by CU Denver’s Institute for International Business (IIB) and Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) with support from the Carole Ann Jemal-Gibson and Greg Gibson Fund.