Conflict disruptions of epistemic communities: initial lessons from the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Abstract

The war in Ukraine has highlighted that the stability of the epistemic communities is not immune to the disruptions caused by international conflicts. This paper explores why some epistemic communities (ECs) continue to function with little change, some adapt, and some cease to exist in times of disruption. It also explores different factors that might explain their resilience to such shocks, thereby shedding light on resilience capacities among these communities. We review case studies of three ECs: the European Space Agency (ESA), Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and the Arctic Council (AC). The results of this study contribute to our understanding of the possible ways of conceiving the epistemic communities differently than we had in the past, in light of disruptions caused by the war in Ukraine.