The invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation has generated a seismic change in relationships on the Old Continent and will have a sustained global impact: But particularly the post-socialist region has been experiencing greater polarisation of societies, with consequences being felt across the “frozen” and “pacified” conflicts that either evolved from or were fomented since the Cold War. Russia’s resolve to assert its influence in the past across “the near abroad” instigated a wave of instability in the Caucasus and Moldova, increased pressure on the Central Asian elites to address domestic dissatisfaction with quality of governance; likewise, polarisation has been deepened by the raiing dominance of China in external relations of the region, as all countries have been prompted to take sides on the conflict. Thus, across the region the war revived zero-sum political rhetoric and black-and-white projections for the future: recasting historic experiences as a foresight, hardening ethnocultural stereotypes, balancing traditional aliances against opportunities for economic cooperation. The workshop asks how the observed processes cut across the post-socialist political space and effect national cohesion in individual states.