Nomi Claire Lazar (English only)
Full Professor, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, Faculty of Social Sciences
"Zelensky is unusual in using shame – not just pity – to demand assistance. He casts himself as the moral authority and face of ‘good’ in an existential battle against evil. Because the West can't provide a ‘no-fly zone,’ nothing we can do will be good enough, so he can continually demand more, so long as he also expresses gratitude.
Zelensky knows how to address multiple audiences at once - politicians and publics - because he knows how to entertain: His speeches create urgency, tension, and immediacy. They make us feel like we're part of the action. Instead of politicians' usual flowery speech Zelensky uses straight talk peppered with punchy moments of metaphorical power: His are dispatches from the battlefield, not stuffy office talk from behind a big desk.
"All of this creates two potential pitfalls: if you're the face of Good, what happens when you misstep? And if your adversary is the face of Evil, how can you accept a negotiated settlement with Russia?"
Ivan Ivanov (English and French)
Associate Professor, Department of Communication, Faculty of Arts
Professor Ivanov’s research focuses on crisis communication, the constitutive power of the organizational communication and the evolution of public relations practices in public organisations in digital era. Professor Ivanov can offer analysis of both Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin’s rhetoric and communications strategy.