January 15, 2025
Lessons from the Edge
Marie Yovanovitch
Diplomat in residence at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University, former Ambassador to Ukraine
Lessons from the Edge
Marie Yovanovitch
Diplomat in residence at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University, former Ambassador to Ukraine
Minutes of the 14th Meeting of the 83rd Year
George Bustin, Old Guard President, called the Zoom meeting to order and presided. There was no invocation. Mark Loiseaux read the minutes of the prior January 8 meeting. The attendance via Zoom was estimated to be at least 150. There were eight signed-in guests: Lleyton Shaw (guest of Rodney Rickman), Steve Lin (guest of Lee Gladden), Dr. Prof. Wolfgang Danspeckgruber (guest of Richard Trenner), Sandy Sussman (guest of Ronald Schnur) and Janice B. Recca, Arati K. Johnston, Andrew Hornick, and Dr. Robert J. Stek (all guests of George Bustin). Finally, George reminded attendees about next week’s AI talk by Arvind Naranayan.
George Bustin introduced the speaker, Marie Yovanovitch, currently Diplomat in Residence at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University. She is the former U.S. Ambassador (2016-2019) to Ukraine, as well as former ambassador to the Republic of Armenia (2008-2015) and the Kyrgyz Republic (2005-2008). She has also served in many senior positions in the U.S. Department of State and the National Defense University and has won several awards prior to and after retiring from diplomatic service in 2020. Ambassador Yovanovitch is a Princeton University alumna (class of 1980). In 2022, Ambassador Yovanovitch published her book, Lessons from the Edge, which summarized her upbringing and diplomatic career and served as the basis for her talk.
Rather than lecture, the speaker engaged in a question-and-answer exchange with President Bustin, beginning with questions about the speaker’s background, upbringing, and education. She has an atypical background for a foreign service professional, being the eldest daughter of two European immigrants who originally migrated via separate routes to Canada, where she was born. Both of her parents, of Russian origin, became teachers at Kent School, a private boarding school in Kent, CT. Marie attended Kent and then matriculated to Princeton University where she majored in history. One critical insight she gleaned in these private school environments was the maxim of giving back and building communities.
In her diplomatic career, the speaker discussed the importance of integrity, focusing on the value and necessity of fighting corruption. She described a less than successful involvement in Somalia (1985-1986), alluding to the experience recounted in the film Black Hawk Down. Fighting corruption became a key goal during her entire time in Ukraine, working with the democratically elected President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Based on her Ukraine experience, Ambassador Yovanovitch described the current war with Russia as an existential threat to Ukraine. Putin does not recognize Ukraine as an entity or nation separate from Russia. The war between Ukraine and Russia has been ongoing since 2014 with the occupation of Crimea, to which the West did not respond. Since the ground invasion of the Ukrainian heartland in February 2022, war has continued without end. Ukraine is receiving secure material support from the U.S., as well as strong European Union and British backing and support. Putin is focused on waging war and winning Ukrainian lands, while also continuing to expand Russian borders, perhaps as far as Alaska! From Putin’s perspective, might makes right. Both sides remain far apart as a new U.S. administration has just taken office.
The speaker narrated the history of the current “international order” as a unique result of post-World War II institutions. The entire world has been historically better off, more peaceful, more prosperous, more democratic, with people healthier. In addition, the world is standing strong supporting Ukraine by recently introducing powerful sanctions on Russia’s oil and gas industry. To date Russia has lost about 700,000 soldiers, is currently experiencing interest rates of 21%, and Putin was unable to support Assad to prevent the fall of his regime in Syria.
Potential settlement options for the war were presented, none being simple. Ukraine has been free for thirty years and wants its own democratically elected government and membership in NATO. Russia wants neither of these for Ukraine. The speaker recounted the historical negotiations regarding Ukraine’s nuclear devices in the early 1990’s, after the fall of the Soviet Union. Russia has kept none of the promises made in 1994 when Ukraine gave up these devices, a warning for any near-term negotiations.
Based on these historical facts, is cold war containment the only strategy for dealing with Russia, acting as a rogue power? We are also in need of revising most of the nuclear disarmament agreements at this time. The U.S. was clearly focused less on Europe after our 2001 9/11 tragedy. Thus, an inevitable shifting of U.S. involvement must re-focus on Russia.
One item noted by the speaker is that Ukraine now has one of the best armies in Europe, which could be a great advantage for NATO.
Respectively submitted,
Julianne Elward-Berry