By Public Affairs Office
George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies

KYIV, Ukraine (March 7, 2019) - The George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in collaboration with the Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine organized a two-day seminar on the topic of “European Security Architecture,” Feb. 27 and 28.  

Four professors from the Marshall Center traveled to Kyiv to support the seminar which was attended by 69 representatives from various agencies of the Government of Ukraine including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defense, the General Staff, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Justice, the Parliament and the Ministry of Energy. 

The Marshall Center professors: Dr. Valbona Zeneli, Strategic Initiatives Chair; Dr. Matthew Rhodes, Area Studies Chair;  Dr. Pal Dunay, Professor of NATO and European Security Issues; and, Professor James Wither, Professor of National Security Studies, presented their thoughts and led in-depth discussions on the security architecture in Europe, transatlantic security cooperation and the European economic architecture. 

Additionally, the seminar delved into the topics of national resilience in an era of hybrid threats, populism in the upcoming European elections, strategic communication and the challenges of weaponized information.

The Marshall Center has been engaged in supporting Ukraine in its defense and security sector reforms through the capacity building of public servants since the Maidan Revolution in 2014.

As part of its comprehensive program with Ukraine, the Marshall Center has supported the reorganization of the Diplomatic Academy, which has been one of the main pillars of its partnership with the government of Ukraine.

Since the end of 2016, the Diplomatic Academy “Hennadii Udovenko,” which operates under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, has become an institution of professional development for diplomats and civil servants in charge of international relations, research, and postgraduate training.

The academy’s activities are run by its four centers: the language training center, the professional development center, the information and resources center, and the center for international research.

The Marshall Center’s close cooperation with the Diplomatic Academy and has helped enable its rapid transformation through, which it has become an important platform for exchanging ideas and offering useful analysis and discussion across a wide spectrum of policy issues.

In a relatively short time frame the academy has created and implemented an innovative professional development program for diplomats.

As part of its comprehensive cooperation, the Marshall Center, through its Partner Language Training Center Europe (PLTCE), has offered English courses for young Ukrainian diplomats designed to strengthen their ability in the diplomatic language of the day.

In a separate meeting, Marshall Center faculty met with the Director of the Diplomatic Academy, Ambassador Sergeiy Korsunsky who said “the tailor-made short-term seminars annually organized at the premises of the Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine by the leading Marshall Center experts on a wide range of issues from European security to hybrid warfare have become an important part of the training process and have been highly appreciated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs leadership.”

Following the event, Dr. Zeneli said “this is not the first time that we visited the Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine in programs similar to the one that we just concluded, but it is amazing to see the level of interest and engagement of young Ukrainian public servants, and their sense of duty for reforming the country. It is very important to broaden the discussion on European, and global security issues from economics, to energy, international relations, to strategic communication, to better understand the times we are living in.”