A public forum titled “Recovery After Total War” will take place on 27–28 May 2026 in Odesa and online via Zoom, bringing together Ukrainian and international experts to discuss the country’s most pressing post-war challenges.
Organised by Ukrainian Cosmopolis, the event is dedicated to examining how states and societies recover after prolonged total war — not only in material terms, but also in political, moral, and social dimensions. Registration for in-person participation has already closed, but the forum will be available to a wider audience via livestream on Facebook and YouTube.
The two-day programme will gather scholars, veterans, policymakers, and analysts from Ukraine and abroad, including representatives of the Cambridge Centre for Geopolitics, the Center for Constitutional Design, and Ukrainian veterans’ organisations.
Discussions will focus on the long-term consequences of war for governance and society, including the strain on the military, the effects of mobilisation policies, and the risks of political radicalisation and social fragmentation.
According to the organisers, prolonged total war leaves behind not only physical destruction but also “mangled bodies and minds, political alienation, moral fatigue, and new social strife,” making post-war recovery a deeply complex task for any state.
The forum will also address the challenges of demobilisation and reintegration of veterans, the resilience of democratic institutions under emergency conditions, and the future of Ukraine’s constitutional order.
Particular attention will be given to how trust in the state can be rebuilt after years of conflict, how to prevent deepening social divisions, and how to balance national cohesion with democratic freedoms in the post-war period.
Organisers emphasise that:
"the event is not focused on abstract peacebuilding models, but on open discussion of difficult internal issues already shaping Ukrainian society during the war."
Participants will include international and Ukrainian experts such as Brendan Simms, Director of the Cambridge Centre for Geopolitics; Gennady Druzenko, Head of the Center for Constitutional Design; Khalid Sheptitsky, Head of the Odesa Veterans’ Professional Union; Anastasia Piliavsky, anthropologist and co-founder of Ukrainian Cosmopolis; David Williams, legal scholar; Anne van Aaken, Professor of Law and Economics; Ganna Yudkivska, international human rights lawyer and judge; Piotr Kulpa, former Deputy Minister of Economy of Poland; Gert Antsu, diplomat and former Estonian Ambassador; Ella Libanova, Director of the Ptoukha Institute for Demography and Social Studies; Uday Chandra, political scientist; Michael Wasiura, researcher in security studies; Ansar Garkho, analyst; Ayub Isakov, researcher; Ugo Poletti, the founder of The Odessa Journal and analyst; and Yuriy Romanenko, political commentator and analyst.
The forum is supported by the European Research Council and the Sutasoma Trust.
The full programme includes panels on the post-war role of the army, coercive mobilisation, constitutional life under emergency rule, veterans’ reintegration, information warfare, national identity, and Ukraine’s long-term constitutional future.
Livestream access will be available on Facebook and YouTube for those unable to attend in person.
