Crossing the Great Divide? Reassessing East-West Relations During the Cold War and After

Evolving and multivalent, Russia’s relationship to the West is not a simple one to uncover, let alone to evaluate. This panel discussion, with authors Dr. Egle Rindzeviciute and Prof. Irina Busygina will shed new light on East-West relations by analysing sources of contemporary tension and evaluating little known areas of cooperation during the Cold War.  

Dr. Egle Rindzeviciute's book  'The Power of Systems’ explores the creation of The International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis, an international think tank, set up with the aim of advancing scientific collaboration between the US and Soviet governments during the Cold War.

Prof. Irina Busygina’s book  'Russia–EU Relations and the Common Neighborhood’  examines contemporary Russia–EU relations and the sources of their deterioration. Differences in the forms and types of power tools used by Russia and the EU are discussed alongside recent shifts in strategies brought about by how both parties wish to be seen on the international stage. 

Join both authors and a series of commentators to discuss surprising systems of cooperation and conflicts between East and West from the Cold War to the present day.

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This event is organised by The FRINGE Centre

About FRINGE

The FRINGE Centre explores the roles that complexity, ambivalence and immeasurability play in social and cultural phenomena. A cross-disciplinary initiative bringing together scholars from the humanities and social sciences, FRINGE examines how seemingly opposed notions such as centrality and marginality, and clarity and ambiguity, can shift and converge when embedded in everyday practices. Our interest lies in the hidden complexity of all embedded practices, taken-for-granted and otherwise invisible subjects. Illuminating the 'fringe' thus puts the 'centre' in a new light.

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