Hello! Your friendly Political Science Librarian here, hoping to offer some guidance on how to catch up with current events abroad!

When international events are changing rapidly, as they are with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it’s important to rely on trusted, verified news sources to keep up with what is going on. Mis- and disinformation spreads fastest in chaotic, uncertain environments, so you want to be sure you are learning about events strategically and not relying solely on social media for your information.

Here are some sources available to the WFU community through ZSR that can help you learn the background and context of what is happening, and stay up to date on current events – remember that you may need to be on campus, signed into your WFU email, or off-campus using VPN to get authenticated to access this content:

For keeping up with current events, ZSR offers you many options. All of the following titles have campus-wide access for all WFU students, faculty and staff:

• The Economist (accessible on campus and off-campus via VPN) has both current reporting and retrospective articles about the situation.
• The New York Times (click here if you have not yet set up your access) has a variety of coverage including maps and charts.
• The Wall Street Journal (click here if you have not yet set up your access) also has a wide variety of coverage including live updates.
• We also have campus wide access to Foreign Affairs , one of the leading sources of information on international politics. This access also gives us the Foreign Affairs archive going all the way back to the 1920s. Access is via IP range so if you are not on campus you can use VPN to access the articles.

For background on The Ukraine and Russia:

•  Europa World Plus has historical essays on every country in the world. Here are the essays on Ukraine and Russia .
• Britannica also has great country studies. Here is theirs on Ukraine and Russia
• Routledge Handbooks in Political Science have several great essays that can give historical background like this one on past Russian action in Ukraine and this one on Russia-EU economic relations.

We also have a number of ways you can keep up with US policy and the US response. One of the best sources is the research from the Congressional Research Service. And as the US starts to have hearings, etc. on our response those will be available in Proquest Congressional.

Finally, if you want to do deeper dives into the situation – we have access to an amazing assortment of recent books, ebooks, and scholarly journal articles through our library subscriptions.

Anyone on campus with specific research needs surrounding Ukraine can contact me, Roz Tedford, at tedforrl@wfu.edu