The past as resource – memory and emotions in Russia’s war on Ukraine

Historical memory and its emotional baggage is used increasingly<br/>by political actors to push forward specific domestic interests and<br/>to revive old schismatic relationships between European states. The<br/>proposed paper aims to analyse this development by asking the<br/>following questions: Under which conditions does the memory of<br/>the past get mobilized and how does it acquire salience in EU<br/>policy-making? How do interpretations of the past and the deploy-<br/>ment of emotions influence political decision-making in the pre-<br/>sent? Using Russia’s war on Ukraine as a case study, the paper<br/>analyses two moments in time: the invasion of Crimea in 2014<br/>and the outbreak of war in 2022. By examining the framing devices<br/>and analogies used in political speeches, resolutions and press<br/>releases by the EP, it analyses where, how by whom and to which<br/>effect historical analogies are being taken up as tools of interpreta-<br/>tion. The aim is to study the cultural heritage of war and conflict as<br/>related to political mobilization of contested memory in the<br/>present.