Prof. Jeffrey D. Sachs participated in the international conference in Belgrade entitled "The European Tragedy of 1914 and the Multipolar World of 2014: Lessons Learned" on 30-31 May 2014, organized by the Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development (CIRSD). He took part in a panel discussion entitled “The Crisis in Ukraine: Winds of the New Cold War?”.
Russia, the EU and U.S. are making moves in an increasingly tumultuous region of Eastern Europe in which each party seek to alter the balance of power in their favor. This panel sought to help to understand the possible trajectories and how they can influence the course of regional and global events.
Prof. Jeffrey Sachs began by explaining how the West failed to adequately assist Russia in its transition in 1991 (as opposed to Poland another former Warsaw Pact countries), and how this experience remained ingrained in the Russian psyche. Regarding today’s situation, he declared that for the actual crisis in Ukraine all parties bear some share of responsibility. Prof. Sachs made a passionate case for the respect of international law, underscoring that Russia’s only way to succeed is to be part of global economy and to cooperate economically with Europe.
