York University hosts "Democracy and Good Governance" project on Ukraine (08/12/01)

York University hosts "Democracy and Good Governance" project on Ukraine

TORONTO - York University's Center for International and Security Studies (YCISS) in October of last year signed an agreement with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) for a four-year project on Ukraine within its "Democracy and Good Governance" sector with a CIDA contribution of $1,950,000. The project director is Dr. Orest Subtelny, professor of history/political science; Dr. Taras Kuzio is YCISS research associate and project manager.

YCISS is one of Canada's leading foreign policy centers and has extensive experience in training specialists in international affairs, as well as previous experience in administrating CIDA grants.

The primary partners for the Foreign and Trade Policy Analysts Development Project are Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and its Diplomatic Academy plus the National Institute of Strategic Studies (Presidential Administration). The secondary partners for the project are the Parliamentary Committee on International Affairs in Ukraine and the Institute for International Relations at Kyiv State University.

The goal of the project is to assist Ukraine in developing a well-trained, highly professional and democratically oriented cadre of foreign policy and trade practitioners and analysts. Canada is well placed to provide assistance to Ukraine in improving the professional standing of its diplomatic staff. The project will contribute to the reform process in Ukraine in three ways:

by helping it, with the aid of modern analytical tools, to develop policies that maintain stable and constructive relations with its neighbors, most notably Russia;
by encouraging the introduction of high professional standards in the foreign service; and
by demonstrating to Ukrainian foreign policy specialists and practioners that the general public can, and should be, involved in the discussion, analysis and evaluation of public, specifically, foreign policy.

The project will address these needs in four key areas. First, specialized courses will be offered at York University allowing for the development of analytical skills, development of curricular modules to be utilized in Ukrainian institutions, such as the Diplomatic Academy, National Institute of Strategic Studies (NISS) and the Institute for International Relations. These themes will be presented also at specialized courses to a wider NISS audience of government officials, diplomats and scholars in Kyiv by Canadian experts.

Second, senior MFA representatives are to visit Ottawa to attend seminars offered by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) and its training arm, the Canadian Foreign Service Institute (CFSI) in professional development. This will assist the MFA in elaborating a personnel development policy.

Third, Ukrainian trainees and MFA representatives study the manner in which non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the public influence foreign policy in a democratic society, such as Canada.

Finally, summaries of the lessons learned from the project's activities will be distributed on a Ukrainian website. In addition, special issues of established Ukrainian foreign policy journals will be published on asymmetrical relations and a conference will bring together Ukrainian and Canadian experts. A forum on international affairs will be modeled on Canadian examples, such as the Canadian Center for Foreign Policy Development within DFAIT.

During the last few months the project has worked in three areas. A program on water boundaries was drawn up in March by Prof. Ian Townsend-Gault of the University of British Columbia, a leading expert on boundary issues for the Ukrainian delegation. The program included one week of consultations in Vancouver and environs, and another week in Ottawa, where meetings with government specialists were planned. The participants were from the State Committee on Borders, the MFA and the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources.

The goal of the Water Boundaries Subproject is to share with the project's Ukrainian partners Canada's experience in negotiating with the United States over their common border, how the issues are defined, the techniques for demarcating and delimiting borders, and how this process relates to international law.

The Vancouver section of the Water Boundaries Subproject included a visit to the Faculty of Law, University of British Columbia, where issues such as delimitation of water (river and sea) borders were discussed in relation to Canadian-U.S. experience and international law. Also presented were border problems encountered in fisheries and the environment.

Of particular value to the Ukrainian participants of phase 1 of the Water Boundaries Subproject were the following areas: international law and international sea legislation, discussion of the 1982 convention and Canada's wide experience in resolving border issues, problems surrounding the delimitation of water borders, the current situation surrounding the Canadian-U.S. water border, information about the Canadian federal and provincial services on state borders - policing borders, Canada customs, coast guard and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

A specialized course was held at York University that consisted of two distinct parts. The first part focused on the theory of asymmetrical relations as well as on an introduction to current trends in international relations theory. Canadian, American and Ukrainian specialists lectured on these topics.

The lecturers included Prof. Subtelny, project director, York University; Dr. Kuzio, research associate and project manager, YCISS, York University; Dr. David Leyton-Brown, executive director, Ontario Council on Graduate Studies, Toronto; Prof. David Mutimer, deputy director, YCISS, York University; Robert Johnstone, former Canadian deputy minister, International Economics and Trade; Prof. Daniel Drache, director, Robarts Center for Canadian Studies, York University; Associate Prof. Paul D'Anieri, Kansas University; Assistant Prof. Marta Dyczok, University of Western Ontario; Associate Prof. Stephen Shulman, Southern Illinois University; Dr. Vasyl Baziv, Consul General, Consulate of Ukraine, Toronto; Dr. Yuriy Shcherbak, Ambassador, Embassy of Ukraine, Ottawa; Prof. Sergei Plekhanov, YCISS, York University; Oleksandr Pavliuk, director, Institute of East-West Studies, Kyiv; Hryhorii Perepelitsa, senior research fellow, National Institute of Strategic Studies, Kyiv; and Adjunct Prof. Jennifer Moroney, Georgetown University, Washington.

Part two of the specialized course stressed concrete issues of asymmetrical relations, such as political and trade relations, environmental problems, media influences and national identity issues. A compare-contrast approach, juxtaposing Canada-U.S. and Ukraine-Russia relations was applied.

The course lasted five weeks at York University in May-June and one week in Ottawa in early July. The 12 participants of the course were from the National Institute of Strategic Studies, Institute of International Relations, Diplomatic Academy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Receptions were hosted by the Shevchenko Scientific Society, the Consulate-General of Ukraine and the Embassy of Ukraine.

The goal of the Professional Development Seminars aspect of the project is to bring to Canada once a year senior MFA representatives for seminars offered by DFAIT and CFSI focusing on professional development of diplomats, establish a sound basis for cooperation between the DA/MFA and the CFSI, and support the elaboration of an MFA personnel development policy. The two participants in this year's subproject in July were Hryhorii Khomenko, vice-rector, DA, and Dmytro Konopko, head of Overseas Missions, Staff Management Department at the MFA.

The project was assisted through the good offices of Roman Washchuk, deputy director of the Policy Planning Department at DFAIT and a former political officer at the Canadian Embassy in Kyiv; Ukraine's Ambassador to Canada Yuri Shcherbak; and A. De-Hoog, dean of CFSI. The program included meetings with all three divisions within DFAIT's Human Resources Department, including two days spent with the CFSI.

The most important areas of discussion, included the hiring procedure, selection process and evaluation of suitability; how the CFSI trained diplomats in language and inter-cultural awareness, all aspects of language training; overcoming barriers to effective communication; and the role and place of women in different countries.

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