Commentary

Beyond Borderland Conference: Panel 2 Summary

The TCUP conference’s second panel, “Digital Transformations,” addressed the question of how the internet influences sovereignty in the twenty-first century. The panel drew together experts on media studies, as well as journalists and a practitioner...

Beyond Borderland Conference: Panel 1 Summary

The 2022 TCUP Conference Beyond Borderland: 30 Years of Ukrainian Sovereignty kicked off Monday, February 7, with a deep dive into the concept of sovereignty in the modern world. Particularly salient with Russian troops amassing at the Ukraine-Belarus...

Europe's Gas Crisis and Russian Energy Politics: Experts Respond

Amidst a perfect storm of conditions leading to increased gas prices and greater demand, Russia is leveraging its role as a major energy supplier to put pressure on Europe. As Benjamin Schmitt notes below, the crisis has been brewing due to "a colder-than...

TCUP in Ukraine: Crimea Platform

TCUP Director Emily Channell-Justice is in Ukraine for a month to conduct research for her project on internally displaced persons. On August 23, she attended the inaugural summit of the Crimea Platform, during which representatives from around the world...

TCUP in Ukraine: Independence Day

TCUP Director Emily Channell-Justice is in Ukraine for a month to conduct research for her project on internally displaced persons. She'll be sending notes about her activities, starting with reflections on the Crimea Platform summit and Ukraine's...

What Comes Next for Crimea? Experts Reflect on Seven Years of Occupation

March 2021 marks seven years since the illegal occupation and annexation of the Crimean Peninsula by the Russian Federation. TCUP asked experts about the general sentiment in Ukraine around the issue of Crimea and its annexation, President Zelensky’s...

TCUP Conference: Day 5

The final panel of the first annual TCUP Conference focused on the issues of displacement and reintegration in Crimea and Donbas. This panel was the only one that was not planned for the original in-person conference scheduled for April 2020; but there...

TCUP Conference: Day 4

The TCUP Conference continued on Thursday, February 4, 2021, with a panel on Institutions and Reform. Moderator Adrian Karatnycky contextualized the panel at its outset, stating that, despite an active war, foreign aggression, corruption, and politics...

TCUP Conference: Day 3

The TCUP Conference continued on Wednesday, February 3, 2021, with a keynote lecture by Dr. Francis Fukuyama entitled, “ Lessons from the Ukrainian Transition to Democracy.” Dr. Fukuyama’s extensive experience with Ukrainian democracy includes his work...

TCUP Conference: Day 2

The TCUP Conference continued on Tuesday, February 2, 2021, with a lively discussion of the role of civil society and mass mobilizations in Ukrainian democracy. Panelists reiterated throughout that there are many terms in this area that are used...

TCUP Conference: Day 1

The First Annual TCUP Conference kicked off on Monday, February 1, 2021. Organized around the question “Why Is Ukraine a Democracy?,” the first panel addressed the role of history in Ukraine’s democratic development. There was no consensus among panelists...

Can the High Anti-Corruption Court Fix Ukraine's Corruption Problem? Q&A with REECA Grad Ivanna Kuz

As part of TCUP’s series on the current Constitutional Court crisis, we are including an interview with Ivanna Kuz, recent graduate of the REECA program at Harvard’s Davis Center, whose research on the High Anti-Corruption Court gives a bigger picture of...