Philadelphia (June 10, 2014) – On Tuesday June 10th, Peace Islands Institute held its monthly Lunch & Learn Series in University City at Drexel University. The Center for Global affairs worked in conjunction with Dr. Daniel Friedheim, professor of Political Science at Drexel University, to better inform the community about the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, and thus the session was titled, “New Russia: How will it affect Moldova and Ukraine, and what does it mean for us?” The program began with a reception and lunch.
Our guest speaker was Dr. Friedheim who has devoted more than 3 decades to teaching and serving the foreign affairs community both as a US foreign Service Officer and academician in the field. Dr. Friedheim began the lecture by clearing any preconceived misconceptions of the crisis and laid down the framework for “why” Russia’s behavior has led to such a crisis. With the use of an engaging PowerPoint presentation, he illustrated for the audience the legal, moral, and political problems that are at hand in Ukraine.
Dr. Friedheim went on to speak about the ramifications of Russia’s apparent annexation of Crimea and expansion of “New Russia”. He also spoke of how many of this seems to be driven by a new wave of nationalism surfacing in Putin ruled post-Soviet Russia, and how historical events such as WWII run relatively parallel to the Ukraine Crisis. And ultimately, Dr. Friedheim stressed the importance of educating ourselves about the global issues such as this one despite being physically removed from the actual situation.
He pointed out how global issues can have a direct impact at home, as in the Ukrainian case, even here in Philadelphia, there are large communities of Polish, Ukrainian, Russian, and other peoples of formerly Soviet influence. Also, this situation in particular is of great importance to a sense of greater welfare as it directly involves US interests with a legitimate threat to NATO allies and partners such as Poland, Moldova, Ukraine, and Estonia.
The luncheon ended with a highly interactive Q & A session, and gift presentation by Peace Islands Institute to Dr. Friedheim in appreciation of his courtesy and knowledge.
