Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies

William and Helen Petrach Program on Ukraine

The Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies has an extensive program on Ukraine that covers research, courses, events, guest scholars and partnerships. These efforts fit into IERES's broader commitment to convert ideas into policy, emphasizing its efforts to bridge the worlds of academia and government.

Research: IERES research on Ukrainian politics has been influential in both the policy and academic worlds. A major ongoing project works with institutions in Washington, the EU, and Ukraine to study the evolution of state-building and reform efforts in Ukraine over twenty years of independence since 1991. This project focuses on determining the factors that facilitate reform and those that hinder it. It will contribute to the academic literature on reform and offer practical advice on how to make reform more successful. Full-time faculty publishing major work on Ukraine in 2010-11 include Henry Hale (World Politics, Journal of Democracy), Robert Orttung (Freedom House), and Sharon Wolchik (World Politics).

Courses: Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Steve Pifer regularly teaches a graduate seminar on Ukrainian Foreign Policy (most recently offered spring 2010 and fall 2011). The university has offered Ukrainian language courses in the past, and envisions doing so again depending on demand.

Events: IERES organizes a wide range of forums dedicated to Ukrainian issues. Recent examples include talks by Taras Kuzio and Sergei Zhuk on the development of youth culture, Ukrainian national identity, politics, and economics in Soviet Dniepropetrovsk and a panel marking the first anniversary of the inauguration of President Viktor Yanukovych featuring Henry Hale, Erik Herron, Robert Orttung, and Randall Stone.

Visiting Scholars: IERES regularly hosts several scholars from Ukraine each year, usually including one or two scholars from our partner institution, the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, and others funded by Fulbright or other prestigious fellowships. Robert Orttung serves as Petrach Exchange Program Coordinator.

Partnerships: IERES has a regular faculty and graduate student exchange program with the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv and has also worked with other Ukrainian universities on individual projects. It also cooperates with North American organizations dedicated to Ukraine, including hosting the 2010 annual alumni conference of the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Program (CUPP) and co-hosting a dinner with the US-Ukraine Business Council for IERES's 2010 workshop on the Ukrainian presidential elections. IERES also draws on resources from the PONARS Eurasia program for Ukrainian activities, which included a 2010 Workshop in Odessa and a featured panel in a 2010 Washington Workshop with speakers Olexiy Haran ( University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy)and Oleksandr Sushko ( Institute for Euro-Atlantic Cooperation, Kyiv).

Ivan Franko National University in L'viv, Ukraine

Ukraine's economic and political transition since 1991 exemplifies the challenges and opportunities that face the countries of the former Soviet Union. The 2004 "Orange Revolution" drew renewed attention to Ukraine and the Institute has sponsored numerous events that have analyzed and discussed Ukraine's recent political changes and its relations with Europe and Russia. As Ukraine's future continues to take shape, the Institute, with the generous support of the Petrach Endowment, will help bring clarity to the complicated transition in Ukraine.

Mr. Petrach was born in Dobrotvir, Poland (now Ukraine) and served successively in the Polish, Soviet and Czech armies against the Germans in World War II. He twice escaped from German prisoner-of-war camps and was also imprisoned in the Soviet Gulag for three years. Mr. Petrach graduated from L'viv State University in 1939 and taught as an assistant professor from 1945-1948 at Bacumov College in Czechoslovakia. He moved to Canada in 1948, and met his future wife, Helen, while visiting relatives in the United States. While Helen worked as a librarian at the Library of New York Academy of Medicine, Mr. Petrach obtained a position with the National Security Agency as an instructor of advanced Slavic languages. On retirement he received a medal citing his "outstanding" and "dedicated service to the Government of the United States, 1965-1993." After Helen's retirement, she took an interest in the stock market and was very successful. Mr. Petrach created "The William and Helen Petrach Endowment for Ukrainian Exchanges and Programs" at the George Washington University in her memory.

Read Mr. Petrach's remarkable autobiography.