The Strauss Center, in partnership with the University of Texas at Austin’s Center for Law and Democracy, Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies, and Clements Center for National Security, will host the “Eurasia Policy Forum: Contemporary Political Myth and Reality in Eurasia” on February 13, 2026 at the LBJ School of Public Affairs’ Bass Lecture Hall.

Eurasian states face mounting challenges amid growing polarization, gaps between social needs and political responses, blurring myth and reality. Further, Eurasian states face additional pressures from a legacy of authoritarian rule, active conflict and irredentism, and political mobilization of social divisions across the region. Yet Eurasian countries also have unique strengths in navigating these challenges, with strong national identities, robust civic engagement, bursts of democratic progress, and deep cultural traditions.

The conference explores the complicated social and political myths and realities shaping the contemporary Eurasian region, as they are poised to either discourage democratic progress or inspire civil society to action. Academic disciplines have each made progress in understanding the complex dynamics in their area of social, political, legal, or cultural study, yet these lessons are often stove-piped. Meanwhile, states—and students training to work in those states—must grapple with the intersection of challenges across all of these areas. This conference tackles this by bridging disciplines, bridging academic and policy spheres, and bridging policy and cultural studies to critically examine these pressing issues in Eurasia. Panels will be designed to foster discussion among experts from cultural studies, history, law, linguistics, policymaking, political science, sociology, and other fields.

The conference will be deeply interdisciplinary, fostering creative engagement on a diverse range of critical topics from state-building and democratic backsliding to construction of national heroes and majority-minority identities to technology’s role in the spread of these narratives.

Register here and learn more about the agenda here.