Do countries have their own unique identity? How do identities on geographical maps relate to identities on our mental maps of the world? Where is Ukraine (and where Russia) on the mental map of public and academic communities? How are assumptions about cultural and local identities deployed in political domains? And what role do these assumptions play in international relations? These old questions achieve new meaning in the Russian war in Ukraine. We investigate them with renowned European scholars and writers, who each have special personal and/or family ties with Central and Eastern Europe.
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