FULBRIGHT UKRAINE

Robert Zimmerman

Political Science
V.I. Vernadskyi Tavrida National University
Fulbright Scholar Program 2006-08

May 2008

Elmira Muratova, a Fulbrighter (2004), teaches a course “Media and Elections” Virtually every part of the Fulbright Room is in use: the room, the Power Point system, and the computer workstation.

As I sat there, it suddenly dawned on me that in one week my two year Fulbright experience here in Crimea will end. Yet this class brought everything together. There was J.W.Fulbright's photo on the wall and much living evidence, both in teaching equipment and teaching personnel, of his continuing impact in Crimea, Ukraine -- in May 2008, some sixty years after he established the Fulbright Program. I will return in August 2008 though no longer with a Fulbright Grant. No matter, I will still be a "Fulbrighter."

May 2008

Yesterday, I attended Elmira Muratova's class on “Meedia and Elections.” She is a also a Fulbrighter. Their course is the "Media and Elections." Virtually every part of the Fulbright Room was in use: the room, the Power Point system, and the computer workstation.

As I sat there, it suddenly dawned on me that in one week my two year Fulbright experience here in Crimea will end. Yet this class brought everything together. There was JW Fulbright's photo on the wall and much living evidence, both in teaching equipment and teaching personnel, of his continuing impact in Crimea, Ukraine in May 2008, some sixty years after he established the Fulbright Program. Elmira asked me to participate by discussing explain the role of the media in the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election Campaign. I will return in August 2008 though no longer with a Fulbright Grant. No matter. I will still be a "Fulbrighter."

March 18, 2008

Fulbright Room at V. Vernadsky Tavrida National University (TNU) in Simferopol, Crimea on March 18, 2008.

Left to right: Dmytro, Alex, Constantine and Nick (my 3rd-Year students at TNU) who, along with 13 other participants (6 more from TNU and 7 from the original THEI Discussion Club).

The group met to continue their "discuss and debate" revision process for the Ukraine National Interests Framework. This document will become the final version for use during the proposed trip to Washington, DC if we secure the needed funding. On the wall, above Dmytro, is a picture of J. William Fulbright. As I sat and witnessed virtually every attendee make their often intensely presented contributions, my eyes, often with tears, fell on J. William Fulbright's picture. I prayed silently that he was actually watching these wonderful young students who would not even be there without his past vision. Yes, I am a proud "Fulbrighter."

But this discussion and debate was not about either J. William Fulbright or Robert F. Zimmerman. This was a discussion and debate about the future of Ukraine. It is just part of an historic process that began in September 2006 with that year's 3rd-year students. They carried their work to the March 16-17, 2007 National Interests Conference here in Simferopol, and then to a May 11, 2007 tele-conference at the National Academy for Public Administration University in Kyiv where three other universities (Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Odesa) participated. Yesterday, and again today in our regular class on, "National Interests and Foreign Policy Tools," we will reflect on what happened yesterday, and then continue to work on four "Foreign Policy Action Plans" that will address four of Ukraine's major foreign policy challenges.

These students hope to carry this process and their visions on the future of Ukraine to the Verkhovna Rada in Kyiv and then to Washington, DC where they hope to present their vision for Ukraine to members of the U.S, Congress, the White House, the Departments of State and Defense, American University, Georgetown University, George Washington University, and many "think tanks" (CSIS, Woodrow Wilson Center, Kennan Institute, Heritage Foundation, Brookings....)

As J. William Fulbright looks on, Dmytro, Alex, Constantine, and Nick study, discuss, and debate Ukraine's National Interests. "J. William" and I could not possibly have been more inspired and satisfied with our parts in the lives of these future leaders who, if the funding comes through, will take their program, "Challenges for Youth in an Independent Ukraine" to the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada and the United States Congress.

All of you, one way or another, have roles to play in the continuing success of this wonderful education process for the university students of Ukraine and their role in promoting and strengthening American-Ukrainian relations.

From a letter upon returning from USA on March 5, 2008:

I write to you from my own apartment here in Simferopol. I am "home."

And when I arrived at the airport here, there was a cheering "crowd" --- my entire 3rd-Year class from Tavrida National University (TNU). They had balloons, a cake, signs... I cried. It took forever to get my checked bag, but they just kept on waving and singing and yelling, "We love you Robert!" We all came home together in the same mini-bus "marshrutska." I remain overwhelmed.

Oleg Gabryelyan, the Dean of the Political Sciences Department told me tonight, "They don't greet me at the airport with cakes and balloons!" But he is very happy and tomorrow, at noon we will begin to plan the future at TNU's Department of Political Sciences....

Three to five million cancer cells died here in Simferopol this afternoon...

The group met to continue their "discuss and debate" revision process for the Ukraine National Interests Framework. This document will become the final version for use during the proposed trip to Washington, DC if we secure the needed funding. On the wall, above Dmytro, is a picture of J. William Fulbright. As I sat and witnessed virtually every attendee make their often intensely presented contributions, my eyes, often with tears, fell on J. William Fulbright's picture. I prayed silently that he watching these wonderful young students who would not even be there without his past vision. Yes, I am a proud "Fulbrighter."

November 2007

Reflections on the Seminar sponsored by the Center for International Relations Studies (CIRS) in Kyiv, November 15-16, 2007.

This seminar brought together four participants from Crimea, one from Odesa, and seven from Kyiv. Crimean participants included: Yevgenia Goronova, Dean of the Area Studies Faculty at Tavrida Humanities and Ecological Institute (THEI); and two recent graduates with specialist degrees, Anna Zakharova and Tetyana Pas'ko, and Robert Zimmerman, Fulbright Scholar.

Other participants were:

Nikolay Kapitonenko, Director of CIRS;
Serhy Bozhko, Researcher, Institute of International Relations;
Ihor Cherinko, Junior Fellow, Karas Institute of Political and Ethnic Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine;
Natalia Sad, International League “Dipkorpus;”
Anna Shelest, Senior Fellow, National Institute of Strategic Studies, Odesa Branch
Vitaly Martyniuk, Department Director, International Institute for Humanitarian Technologies;
Illyah Zavodovsky, Club of Young Diplomats of Ukraine;
Taras Dovganyuk, Club of Young Diplomats of Ukraine;
Serhiy Shtepa, Senior Fellow, Borys Hrinchenko Kyiv Municipal Pedagogical University.

First session: Crimea and its relations with the rest of Ukraine.

Topics discussed included:

Problems related to the integration of Crimea into Ukraine and the role of Crimean Tartars;
Comparison of Crimea with Kosovo. Dean Goronova pointed out that there is really no comparison in the sense that the Tartars have not been oppressors in Crimea (though Russia certainly has!); and,
The role of Russia in Crimea, particularly the possibility of instability during elections in 2008 in Russia, Crimea, and Sevastopol. Again, Dean Goronova rejected a suggestion that Russian TV channels be forbidden, pointing out that this violates democratic principles related to free speech.

Second session: key document used for the discussion agenda was the one prepared by 3rd-Year students at Tavrida National University (TNU) that identified some 17 problem areas for Ukrainian diplomacy. Students at THEI and the “Discussion Club” are discussing these as they work on their own new National Interests Matrix. Some topics discussed here coincided with those covered in the student groups:

GUAM (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Moldova);
Regional leadership in the Black Sea;
Protection of the interests of Ukrainian citizens abroad;
An active policy by Ukraine for expansion of economic cooperation with the Middle East, China, Latin America (Argentina in particular) through trade-economic missions;
The Russian fleet at Sevastopol;
Close cooperation with nearest neighbors, including especially Belarus;
Development of transport highways because of Ukraine's transit potential;
Reduction of dependence on Russia for gas and oil;
Expansion of Ukrainian embassies abroad; security of Ukrainian citizens abroad.

However, there probably should have been more discussion on the following issues:

Ukraine-Russia relations, including the level of impact of Russia in Crimea;
Ukraine's relationship with the CIS;
Ukraine's relationship with the United States;
Ukraine NATO and Ukraine EU relations;
Specific delineation of Ukraine's role and responsibilities in the Black Sea.

Given the complexity of issues involved, all of these latter topics easily merit a seminar focusing only on them.

November 5, 2007

Family and friends:

Yesterday, it snowed for the first time this fall season. But that snow came as I returned to my apartment after my "Civil Society" class. On the way to that class, the weather was simply cold, rain, and gray -- it matched my concerns about how well this next session with my 4th-year students would go. They had now been given a new course syllabus, numerous readings in English, and a very detailed set of lecture notes from which I have planned to teach over the remainder of this course. The first two months have been less than inspiring -- indeed, even depressing with this group of students.

I returned home in a high state of euphoria!

Yesterday's class with my 4th-Year students turned out to be one of the very best teaching experiences -- even though only 10 students were present. For those who were there, Kate, Nastya, Lana, Tai, Regina, Irina, Alex. Asan, Zera, and Igor, along with Slava and me, something very special happened. We had a VERY deep and challenging discussion about (1) some of the most basic institutions of civil society: churches/religious organizations, family, labor unions, student organizations, even political parties; (2) Islam and democracy; and, (3) some of the basic values necessary for a viable democratic civil society: honesty, respect for the rule of law, sense of responsibility, tolerance, duty, cooperation, and trust.

Interestingly, Asan and Zera, both Crimean Tartar students, provided the most challenging perspectives and questions. And we were all blown away when Zera asked permission to approach the black (green) board. There, in front of the class, she asked about the possibilities for, and compatibility of Islam with democratic civil society and the values listed on the board. Zera, though a bright student, had never before in the previous year or up to this point, exercised such initiative. One of my deepest regrets will forever be not having at least a photo of her at the board -- and the thought had crossed my mind. I was so stunned, I did not want to lose my attention to her.

I have never been more challenged to respond to questions about the compatibility of Islam with democracy, religious organizations, Thomas Jefferson and the role of the church, the meaning of civil society and the types of organizations that qualify for "civil society." I do not know how well I did in responding yesterday. I do know that I will be videoing our next class. And this email is not the place for an extensive recitation of my responses. Enough to say that Donald Eberly, Amitai Etzioni, Francis Fukuyama, Thomas Jefferson, and Vaclav Havel were some of the "references" brought into our exploration.

I was disappointed that only 10 of the 23 registered students from this 4th-Year class -- my fantastic 3rd-Year students from last year -- were present to participate in yesterday's experience. Yet, my classes are not really to be judged by numbers of students present. Our learning and joy in the process only requires interested and committed students, whatever their number. Yesterday, was a deeply joyful and wonderfully challenging experience for me. And many of the questions asked will continue to guide and motivate me for the classes that lie ahead.

Robert

[ Close window ]