The Norwegian Network for Research on Ukraine (UKRAINETT), the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI) and the Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research (NIBR, OsloMet) are pleased to invite you to a book seminar with Dr. Kacper Rekawek on Monday, March 6, 09.00–10.00 at OsloMet, Pilestredet 46, Clara Holst hus, Room PA329.
At the seminar, Dr. Rekawek will present findings from his recent book, Foreign Fighters in Ukraine: The Brown-Red Cocktail (London: Routledge 2023). This is the first comprehensive academic study of the phenomenon of foreign fighters in Ukraine. Drawing on extensive research, including numerous interviews with the fighters themselves, the book sheds light on important questions such as these:
- Who are the foreign fighters in Ukraine?
- How many are they, and what are their motivations?
- What role do they play in the conflict?
- Will the foreign fighters be a security concern for their home countries when they return?
Following Rekawek’s presentation, Senior Research Fellow Johannes Due Enstad from the Institute for Social Research will offer a few remarks, before we open for questions from the audience. A light breakfast will be served prior to the event.
Program:
08.30 – 09.00: Light breakfast/mingling
09.00 – 09.05: Words of welcome by Kristian Åtland
09.05 – 09.30: Book talk by Kacper Rekawek
09.30 – 09.45: Remarks by Johannes Due Enstad, followed by comments from Rekawek
09.45 – 10.00: Q&A session
Bios:
Kacper Rekawek, PhD, has more than 15 years of experience in counter terrorism and countering violent extremism from academia (Queen’s University Belfast, Handa Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence at the University of St. Andrews), think tanks (Polish Institute of International Affairs, PISM) and the third sector (GLOBSEC, Counter Extremism Project). Since 2014 he has been studying and published on the Western extremist foreign fighters in the war in Ukraine and is now finishing a book on the topic which will be published by Routledge. In the Summer of 2021 he joined the Center for Research on Extremism (C-REX) at the University of Oslo as a postdoctoral fellow.
Johannes Due Enstad is a historian and Russia specialist who holds a PhD from the University of Oslo. He has previously worked as a researcher at the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI), the Centre for Studies of the Holocaust and Religious Minorities, and the University of Oslo. His research interests include Russian and European contemporary history, right-wing extremism, and antisemitism. Enstad’s publications include the monograph Soviet Russians under Nazi Occupation (Cambridge University Press, 2018). He currently directs a research project on the development of antisemitism in post-Cold War Europe.
Kristian Åtland is a Senior Research Fellow at the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI) and Adjunct Professor of Political Science at Nord University. He holds a PhD in political science from UiT – The Arctic University of Norway. His research interests include military developments in Russia as well as interstate relations and security issues in the Barents Sea and the circumpolar Arctic. Since 2014, he has also done extensive research on Ukraine and Russia-Ukraine relations. He is a member of the UKRAINETT steering group.
Rekawek’s book is available for order here.
Map over OsloMet here.
The event will be also be streamed: https://oslomet.zoom.us/j/63804005168?pwd=a2g2cU8rUm9iaVpiUlErNUl6bXVzQT09
Registration: https://forms.office.com/e/EY0dQHxs1g