The eastern edge of Europe has always been in flux. As a result, the nature of the Ukrainian-Russian relationship is both complex and ambiguous. Prompted by the countries' historical and geographical ...entanglement, Volodymyr V. Kravchenko asks what the words "Ukraine" and "Russia" really mean.
History seems to be repeating itself, not as farce but as yet another tragedy. It reveals many of its driving forces at turning points. Those who manage to notice them, get the opportunity to rethink ...the past from a different perspective. The Russian-Ukrainian ongoing war of 2022 is one such fateful event. I am confident it will start a new chapter not only in history but also in the historiography of Ukrainian-Russian relations. Historians are usually more comfortable when they keep a distance from the object of their studies. I have no such distance; I am a deeply involved observer. When this essay is published, a reader will be better informed than the author about the course of events in Ukraine. However, although many details and aspects of the war remain in the shadow, I have a strong feeling of déjà vu, in particular when it comes to Russia.
Why was an academic conference devoted to problems in the Black Sea basin held in landlocked Kharkiv? Those who wish to find the answer to this question would do well to recall that in 2010, Kharkiv ...was the place where the “Agreement between Ukraine and Russia on the Black Sea Fleet in Ukraine” (widely referred to as the Kharkiv Pact or Kharkiv Accords) was signed. Upon travelling even farther into the depths of history, one would see how important the strategic role of Kharkiv was in Russia’s expansion and modernization of the southern reaches of its empire. As well, Kharkiv seemed to attract more than its fair share of people from the Balkan region, particularly those from what is now Serbia and Bulgaria. In this respect it suffices to mention the founder of Kharkiv University, Vasyl' Karazyn (Russ. Vasilii Karazin, 1773-1842), and two of its professors, Teodor Filipović (1778-1807; pseud. Božidar Grujović), who authored the first constitution and laws of Serbia, and Marin Drinov (1838-1906), who was among the founders of the constitution and national academy of sciences of Bulgaria. Against this background, the North-South axis of Ukraine and Kharkiv’s symbolic geography appears no less important than the East-West axis.
The Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (CIUS) became the second academic institution in the Western world to fully specialize in exploring Ukrainian history, culture, and current affairs after ...the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute (HURI). Establishment of the CIUS in Edmonton was not predetermined. There were other ideas and competing projects with regard to place, profile, and institutional model of Ukrainian studies in Canada. Edmonton became a winner due to a unique combination of Western regionalism, multiculturalism, the makeup of the Ukrainian local community, and the personal qualities of that community’s leaders. Contrary to widespread opinion, the CIUS did not copy the institutional model of the HURI. The CIUS model is unique, as it embraces a broad, interdisciplinary research agenda, and community-oriented activities related to education and culture.
Odesa’s Many Frontiers: Introduction Kravchenko, Volodymyr V; Zychowicz, Jessica
East, West (Edmonton),
2022, Volume:
9, Issue:
2
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Why focus on Odesa? Because it is the largest, strategically located port on the Black Sea—the continental gateway to the Mediterranean? Or because it remains one of the world’s leading exporters of ...grain—now closed by a broad Russian military blockade? Or is it because of the city’s extremely rich tendency toward myth-making? Something as seemingly banal as Odesa’s “Potemkin Steps” have been firmly immortalized into film canons from L.A. to Toronto to Paris by Sergei Eizenshtein (Sergey Eisenstein) in his world-renowned film, Bronenosets Potemkin (Battleship Potemkin, 1925). Likewise, the city’s astounding ethnic diversity compels some to trace the Odesan roots of such seemingly disconnected yet prominent figures as Sidney Pollack, Steven Spielberg, Sylvester Stallone, Whoopi Goldberg, and Leonardo di Caprio. All the above-mentioned considerations, and more, would inspire any scholar to reflect upon the magnetism of Odesa’s past, present, and future. It is clear from its established literary reputation and many muses that Odesa, on its own, is a rewarding topic for many. Yet our decision to bring scholars together to better understand Odesa is motivated by a slightly different epistemology.
Borderland City: Kharkiv Kravchenko, Volodymyr V
East, West (Edmonton),
04/2020, Volume:
7, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
The article attempts to identify Kharkiv’s place on the mental map of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union, and traces the changing image of the city in Ukrainian and Russian narratives up to the ...end of the twentieth century. The author explores the role of Kharkiv in the symbolic reconfiguration of the Ukrainian-Russian borderland and describes how the interplay of imperial, national, and local contexts left an imprint on the city’s symbolic space.
This article researches the theoretical approaches to the place and role of risk management in the field of state governance of the economy. The concepts of “risk”and “risk management” pertaining to ...the activity of state authorities have been defined.The problems that arise in the field of public finance management are identified, as well as the problems relating to the experience of applying the Methodology for assessing fiscal risks associated with the activities of state-owned enterprises. The possibility of introducing international risk management standards and best practices of risk management in public administration, which are used by the EU member states, into Ukraine has been identified.This article presents the results of an expert survey on the problems and ways of introducing risk management into the activities of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine. The survey showed that the field of public finance in Ukraine needs to implement modern approaches to risk management.
The article investigates the problems seaports are facing in the process of their operations and functioning. The authors determine the components of the integration strategy for a range of seaports ...and several supply chains. Methodological grounds for the project method application are explained as well as the SCOR model and also the conceptual model of value creation during seaport management. The general framework of base categories for seaport management is presented.
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