On Thursday 15 April 2014, Senior Course 124 and NRCC 11 had the opportunity of participating in a “Contemporary Events Day”, dedicated to an in-depth analysis of the current sensitive political situation in Ukraine. The purpose of the panel was to better understand the main security challenges posed by the Ukrainian crisis from a political, economic and geopolitical perspective.
Lieutenant General Arne Bård Dalhaug (NOR A), NDC Commandant, opened the day’s proceedings before introducing the first of the three panellists.
Dr Arkady Moshes (FIN C) gave an interesting and very comprehensive presentation entitled “Ukraine: How did it work before Maidan?”, focusing mainly on the economic and political situation in Ukraine before the recent crisis. The speaker described political and geo-economic relations between Russia and the Ukraine from the 90s to the present, and went on to explain Ukrainian ambitions vis-à-vis Europe, the European partnership cooperation instruments and the NATO membership process since 2008.
The second panellist, Dr Hanna Shelest (UKR C), NDC Research fellow, briefed the audience on “Ukrainian Euromaidan. What it was and why we care”, explaining the evolution of the Euromaidan protests from the initial, peaceful demonstrations to the first Russian strike in Crimea.
The third panellist, Dr Andrew Wilson (GBR C), gave the Russian perspective on the Ukraine crisis. In his presentation, the speaker analysed Russia’s position through the political declarations made by President Putin since the Bucharest NATO Summit in 2008. The panellist covered a wide range of aspects, including geopolitical, ethnical and political issues and, in conclusion, gave a fascinating vision of possible future scenarios.
This set of lectures was followed by a lively Q&A session, in which Course members had the opportunity to challenge the lecturers and gain deeper insight into the Ukrainian political situation.
Later during the afternoon, Course Members met in their respective committees to further discuss and critically examine this very relevant and contemporary topic on the current international security agenda.
NDC Public Affairs Office
(Prepared by Ms Moica Fornari, ITA C)
Collège de Défense de l'OTAN