The Future of Ukraine: Realities, Risks, and Opportunities: The William Petrach 100th Anniversary Memorial Symposium

Nezalezhnosti) turned into a national movement, a sociopolitical revolution against corruption, authoritarianism, and opaque governance. Instead of heeding protestors’ call for change, the government opened fire on its own citizens, thereby galvanizing protests across the country and catalyzing an entire chain of events known as the EuroMaidan. Analysis of the origins of the EuroMaidan and of the real chances to build a thriving independent country will be the focus of the William Petrach Memorial Symposium at the Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies (IERES) on November 15, 2018.
IERES has an extensive track record in researching Ukrainian politics and delivering policy advice on this topic. Major research projects have brought together scholars from the United States, Canada, Europe, and Ukraine to study the evolution of state-building and reform efforts in Ukraine. Among IERES members who have published major works on Ukraine in recent years are Henry Hale and Robert Orttung, who coedited the volume Beyond the Euromaidan: Comparative Perspectives on Advancing Reform in Ukraine (Stanford 2016).
IERES continues to conduct a plethora of Ukraine-related activities through its William Petrach Program, publications in the PONARS Eurasia Policy Memo series, and special issues of Demokratizatsiya: The Journal of Post-Soviet Democratization. For many years, we have been engaged in an active exchange with Ivan Franko National University of Lviv with guest scholars spending a semester at IERES.
 Our symposium will honor William Petrach (1918-1998) on his 100th anniversary.
AGENDA
 2:00 p.m.        Opening Remarks
“The Legacy of William Petrach”, Peter Rollberg
2:15-3:30          Panel I                                                                        
Chair: Henry Hale
“Underlying Sources of the Russia-Ukraine Conflict”, Paul d’Anieri, University of California, Riverside  
“Media in a Post-EuroMaidan Ukraine”, Marta Dyczok, University of Western Ontario
3:30-3:45        Coffee Break
3:45-5:00        Panel II    
Chair: Marlene Laruelle                                                              
“History, Memory and Nation Building Challenges after 2014”, Georgiy Kasianov, Ukrainian                        Academy of Science
“Imagining Crimean Tatar History: Russia Marginalizes, Ukraine Makes Them Allies”, Andrew Wilson, University College London                   
 5:00-6:00        Reception