The Russo-Ukrainian War and Memory Politics in International Relations

Abstract The Russo-Ukrainian War has transformed global memory politics, crystallizing a shift away from the post-1989 paradigm of “moral remembrance” toward modes rooted in Cold War, decolonization, and security discourse. This Special Forum introduction brings diverse contributions within a broader theoretical agenda, arguing that the war functions as a global “impact event” that reconfigures mnemonic relations across national and transnational contexts. It proposes conceptual innovation by linking collective memory to transformations in the global order and by rethinking the memory-security nexus. Against this backdrop, memory operates as both an instrument and a site of geopolitical contestation in international relations.