The discussion was online 11-12 noon, April 11, 2024 by the Kennan Institute. Mr. William Pomeranz, Director, was the moderator; and speakers were Ms. Svitlana Biedorieva, formerly with Kennan; Volodymyr Sheiko, Ukrainian Institute; and Professor Andrei Portnov, European University, Frankfurt/Oder, Germany.
Mr. Sheiko took a cultural perspective, arguing that the Ukrainians are moving away from Russian influence, its historical past, toward European culture, where it has its own peculiar character in development, far away from its colonial-past under Russian tutelage. In this regard, its recent past resembles the colonies in Africa asserting their unique individuality as nations, independent of their mentor countries in Europe.
There can be little doubt that Ukrainian lifestyle has taken on a European look in the arts and in literature. Professor Portnov traced its cultural heritage back to the Germany and its history in centuries past.
Despite the bombings and destruction of buildings during the War, the people of Ukraine have assumed their own freedom as a peaceful country in search of acceptance, hopefully, by the European Union, to which Ukraine has applied for admission as a member state.
So, how should one look upon its past recent years of being a Russian satellite nation? Well, it was a difficult pill to swallow that in business contracts and matters of weight documents were expected to be written and signed in Russian--so many citizens of satellite countries complained. It was as if they were second-class citizens of a country they did not wish to identify with. In any case, for the time being at least, Ukraine is independent and free from Russian authority--the past is over for most of the country-- not controlled by Russian troops.
Through global diplomacy, recognizing affinity of cultural values and norms with Europe, the Ukrainians plea their case to no longer be subject to the Russian culture, involving war and pestilence as a way to settle disputes. .
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