The Russia-Ukraine War: A Good Case Study for Students to Learn and Apply the Critical Juncture Framework

Abstract

In this article, I argue that critical junctures – defined as sudden turning points in the historic trajectory of countries, institutions, and other units of analysis – provide a propitious lens to teach the war in Ukraine. By analyzing the influence of this war on energy security in Europe and the world, its impact on public opinion on NATO membership in nonaligned countries, or the war’s potential to change great power politics, to name a few examples, students of political science can determine themselves, if the war amounts to a critical juncture. In doing so, they not only learn how to apply a rather complex theory to a real-world scenario, they also learn how the discipline of political science operates.