TODAY: Diplomacy and the Ukraine Crisis

Since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, many have been skeptical of the possibilities for diplomatic resolution, and the White House has repeatedly questioned whether diplomacy is possible given continued Russian aggression. At the same time, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy has pointed to negotiations as critical, and Turkey and Israel have attempted to mediate the conflict. There have been reports of a Russian diplomatic offer of settlement in exchange for some combination of Ukrainian neutrality and concessions on Crimea and the Donbas, and President Zelenskyy has suggested that the Ukrainian government is willing to come to an agreement on neutrality if it is accompanied by security guarantees. But it is unclear what the practicable details of an agreement for Ukrainian neutrality and security would be, whether Ukraine is willing to compromise on sovereignty issues in Crimea and the Donbas, or whether these territorial issues could be “compartmentalized” and resolved diplomatically at a later date. 

What is clear is that the alternative to a peace agreement is a protracted war, which will lead to immense suffering and losses for the people of Ukraine. The combination of the war with Western economic sanctions is also threatening global economic recession, radical increases in food prices, and potential political instability in countries that are dependent on wheat imports. All of these factors create a very strong incentive to pursue a diplomatic path to end the conflict.

Join our expert panel to discuss possibilities of a peace agreement to end the war, featuring Gabrielle Rifkind, conflict mediator and director of Oxford Process, Ambassador Thomas Pickering, and Samuel Charap, senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation. Anatol Lieven, senior research fellow at the Quincy Institute, will moderate.

MLK 55 Years Later — Can the Church Study War No More?

Re-examining the links between militarism and racism 

Can the Church “study war no more”? 

Join us virtually or in person on April 2nd to mark the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s “Beyond Vietnam” speech in the place where he delivered it 55 years ago – the historic Riverside Church.

At a time when the justness and necessity of the Vietnam War was still broadly accepted, Dr. King issued a stirring rebuke to the U.S. establishment, naming his own government as “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world.” 

We’ll be joined by Bernice King to explore the connections that her father made in that historic speech between the three evils—militarism, racism and materialism—and their impact on Black lives a half century later. With the Quincy Institute President Andrew Bacevich, Dream Defenders founder Phil Agnew, and Rev. Traci Blackmon, and moderated by Pastor Michael McBride, director of the LiveFree campaign, we will examine the road from Iraq to Ferguson to Ukraine and talk about how the Church and the American people can overcome the forces of war and violence to build a more peaceful and just nation and planet.