Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: accounting for the domestic alongside the international

An old debate on the value of systemic explanations of international relations (IR) reemerged in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Both scholars and popular media have spent much oxygen and ink debating arguments that assign causal primacy to NATO expansion, status reclamation, spheres of influence, dissatisfaction, or multipolarity. However, understanding conflict onset and duration requires consideration of both domestic and international causes. Though accounting for both has been relatively sparse in the public discourse of Russia’s invasion, efforts to engage both have a long history in IR scholarship. This forum addresses this omission in the Russia–Ukraine War, outlining the problems with the dominant systemically focused narrative while offering suggestions for more fruitful avenues rooted in both IR and area studies. Doing so offers a more thorough accounting of the war and emphasizes the broader interdependence between IR and area studies.