#  TCUP 2024: Panel 3 

 





May 24, 2024

 

 

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The third panel of the 2024 TCUP conference delved into the relationship between the United States and Ukraine. Moderated by Oxana Shevel of Tufts University, this session started by confronting the question: Is American policy towards Ukraine actually a form of colonialism?

A common claim by Russian media, this idea was rebutted by Volodymyr Dubovyk of Tufts University. He pointed out President Joe Biden’s attempts to maintain dialogues with Putin before the 2022 Russian invasion. Then, he brought up several instances of how Biden had tried to avoid provoking Putin, such as when Biden declined to give Ukraine weapons or place preemptive sanctions on Russia, even as troops were amassing on the border. Finally, he pointed out the US president’s willingness to wait for Ukraine to make its own decisions.

 ![Eugene Fishel speaks, as the other speakers listen on.](/sites/g/files/omnuum4931/files/huri/files/ae_1802.jpg)

 

Eugene Fishel of George Mason University made the tongue-in-cheek assertion that there are three reasons to believe that America has a colonial approach to Ukraine. The first reason he cited was ignorance. The second was anti-Americanism. The third was Russian disinformation. He argued that US self-interest in Ukraine has always been support for Ukraine’s sovereignty.

Razom’s Melinda Haring switched the focus to the American government’s behavior. She pointed out that the US hadn’t set up an administrative state in Ukraine, or plundered resources. Rather, it was Ukraine that had approached America, pleading for supplies and weapons. Instead of being forced by America into either war or surrender, it is the Ukrainian government that determines when the fighting will cease. “Ukraine is in charge,” Haring said. “It’s in the driver’s seat.”

Benjamin Schmitt, from the University of Pennsylvania, agreed with the crux of Haring’s argument. He pointed out that, regardless of the whataboutism surrounding American policies in Ukraine, the real colonial power in the region is the Russian Federation. Moderator Shevel affirmed that there is a distinction between self interest, and colonial intentions. She echoed the sentiment that Russian accusations of colonialism towards America are projections of the Russian government’s own behavior.

 ![Melinda Haring (Razom for Ukraine)](/sites/g/files/omnuum4931/files/huri/files/ae_1888.jpg)

 

Dubovyk followed up by stating that the goal of the war is to liberate Ukrainian territories, and not to dissolve Russia. The massive breakdown of Russia is not the ultimate stated goal of the Ukrainian government– or the American government. Dobovyk said that Ukrainians are not planning to march into Moscow. He emphasized that Western powers have, in fact, shown reluctance to get involved in Ukraine, due to fear of nuclear escalation.

Fishel continued by pivoting towards America’s foreign policy record regarding Putin’s Russia. He pointed out that the US government’s investment into relations with Russia has not paid off. The willingness to placate this autocrat has only resulted in Putin’s growing aggression. “One of the reasons why Putin today is pursuing this expanded war against Ukraine,” Fishel said, “arguably, is Western policy and inability to deter Russia in meaningful ways in earlier years.”

Haring took the opportunity to acknowledge that Biden’s generation lived under the threat of nuclear warfare, and may be hardwired with a fear of escalation. She suggested that the USA wants to support a winner, and that Ukraine didn’t make sufficient gains in 2023 to inspire confidence in American policymakers. However, she attributed this lack of gains to inadequate US support.

Schmitt mirrored Haring’s position, by claiming that American defeatism has resulted in disinflating war support. He called for the United States to enforce sanctions, and grant weapons systems to Ukrainians. His stance reflected the overall view of the panel: that the primary colonizer is Russia, and America should rise to this occasion.

[Watch the 2024 TCUP Conference Panel 3 on YouTube.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6s33m_aY0w)



 

 

 



 

 See also:- [ Conference ](/tags/conference)
- [ TCUP ](/tags/tcup)
 
 

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