The Wilson Center Launches “Ukraine in Europe” Initiative
WASHINGTON – Today, the anniversary of Ukraine’s Declaration of Independence in 1991, the Wilson Center announced that it is launching a new initiative aimed at exploring Ukraine’s plans to align itself more formally with Europe and its institutions and the ramifications of those plans for both Russia and Europe.
The Global Europe Program is joining the Kennan Institute to focus on the realities of a war that is reshaping the continent. “That war is far from over, of course,” said Ambassador Mark Green, president and CEO of the Wilson Center. “But a new Ukraine is emerging from the conflict which is unified in its plans to integrate with Europe and also—when the time is right—to lead an effort to build a new, stronger Ukraine…which would have major implications for the entire region.”
Ukraine’s aspiration for a European future has prompted positive signals from NATO and the EU. Meanwhile, Russia has reasserted its imperial designs, once again annexing foreign territory that virtually no other country recognizes.
Through the “Ukraine in Europe” project, launching today, the Global Europe Program will explore critically timely issues, including Europe’s changing geostrategic landscape in light of Ukraine’s anticipated EU and NATO membership. Kennan Institute projects will track Ukraine’s pursuit of transitional justice to hold Russia accountable for its crime of aggression as well as the war’s impact on a changing Russia. Both programs will examine outbound and return migration, the resilience of civic institutions, the pursuit of good governance and anti-corruption reforms, and the role of culture and the arts in a time of war.
This conflict has changed Ukraine, Europe, and Russia in deep and profound ways, and the Wilson Center is committed to covering both countries in a rapidly changing world as history is being made in real time.
Please follow along at our webpage Ukraine at Wilson.
Related Programs
Kennan Institute
The Kennan Institute is the premier US center for advanced research on Russia and Eurasia and the oldest and largest regional program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. The Kennan Institute is committed to improving American understanding of Russia, Ukraine, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the surrounding region though research and exchange. Read more
Global Europe Program
The Global Europe Program is focused on Europe’s capabilities, and how it engages on critical global issues. We investigate European approaches to critical global issues. We examine Europe’s relations with Russia and Eurasia, China and the Indo-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa. Our initiatives include “Ukraine in Europe” – an examination of what it will take to make Ukraine’s European future a reality. But we also examine the role of NATO, the European Union and the OSCE, Europe’s energy security, transatlantic trade disputes, and challenges to democracy. The Global Europe Program’s staff, scholars-in-residence, and Global Fellows participate in seminars, policy study groups, and international conferences to provide analytical recommendations to policy makers and the media. Read more
