For the Press

April 26, 2024, marks 38 years since the accident at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant in then-Soviet Ukraine. Still bearing the tragic distinctions of the worst nuclear accident in history, Chornobyl exposed thousands of people to ionized radiation, creating lingering humanitarian effects as well as severe social and political dislocations. By exposing the dysfunction and duplicity of the Soviet regime in Moscow, Chornobyl also contributed to the collapse of the Soviet empire. Some three decades later, the Chornobyl Power Plant and the exclusion zone around it, was occupied and vandalized by Russian military forces, dispatched by another ruler in Moscow to wage war against Ukraine. To interrogate relations between political power and human dimensions of nuclear security, we delighted to host a conversation with Adam Higginbotham, the author of an award-winning book Midnight in Chernobyl.

Speaker: Valbona Zeneli, Visiting Scholar, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University 

Prior to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Chinese enjoyed unfettered access to Europe's economic, research, and academic domains. Chinese President Xi Jinping's friendship pact with Russian President Vladimir Putin resulted in negative reverberations throughout European capitals and raised concerns about China's strategic ambitions and their impact on Europe. The presentation will examine the change in Europe's assessment of Chinese ambitions since the initiation of the war in Ukraine and likely impact on Chinese engagement activities going forward, including the need for a stronger transatlantic coordination.

Open to Harvard ID Holders Only: Admittance will be on a first come–first served basis. Coffee &Tea Provided.