Armada in Ukraine
Recently, I was interviewed by Gary Marx on his podcast Peace & Power, sponsored by the Federal Newswire. It’s interesting that they focused on how I witnessed Ukraine’s transformation for 32 years and offered perhaps a broader or larger perspective on the nation’s progress and reform than what others might hear or read about.
“Ukraine came out of the ashes of a destroyed Soviet empire, a destroyed Soviet economy,” I said, and explained how “I would move around Ukraine and see the effects of communism, see the effects of that Marxist ideology, and then watch the society emerge out of that into something new. The critics of today who dismiss Ukraine as corrupt fail to understand the path of progress. For whatever they want to criticize, the sad thing is, if you turn the coin, it’s been an amazing journey to see the roots of liberty growing up.”
It occurred to me that perhaps only a handful of Americans have had the privilege to have this larger perspective on Ukraine’s progress in government, law and legislation.
And Armada has been there almost from the beginning, doing what we can to bring reform and needed change to Ukraine. You may be interested to briefly review a few of the things we’ve worked on over the past eleven years.
On the first of June 2014, I received an official letter of greeting from the then interim President Mr. Turchynov for holding a “Leadership Summit” in Kyiv, Ukraine at the Hilton Hotel. We had a whole host of politicians, judges, lawyers, poets and leaders from virtually every sphere of Ukrainian life. Just last week I had several meetings that were a continuing result from that first conference!
A year later, June 2015, I participated at a legislative forum with my good friend Steve Weber at the National Academy of Law Sciences of Ukraine. The room was filled with engaging dialogue as these amazing leaders grappled with the need for change.
Later, in that same month, I spoke at a constiutional forum with my American guest, John A. Eidsmoe, who has argued many cases in the US Supreme Court. Ukraine’s first President, Mr. Kravchuk, was also a participant, whom I had miraculously “ran into” on the street earlier that same morning. Also, several of the authors of today’s Ukraine constitution were speakers, and the ideas that floated around that room reminded me of 1776! Again, the ability to dialogue, discuss, and even argue were present to move Ukraine forward.
In August of 2015, Armada kicked off our first project for Nashe Pravo, which means Our Rights, a NGO we created to further empower our involvment in Ukrainian civil society. We held a nationwide essay contest on “Why Does Ukraine Need a New Constitution?” We hosted a large gathering at the Hilton Hotel to announce the project, and were joined by several esteemed guests, including the very authors of the Ukrainian Constitution. This was followed up by an all day seminar at Kyiv School of Economics, where John A. Eidsmoe and the honorable Sam Rohrer taught on the foundations of law and good government. It was attended by several premier lawyers and legislators.
Quickly I returned to the USA and spoke at the US Capitol in Washington DC at the forum “Ukraine’s Ongoing Battle for Freedom,” defending Ukraine and announcing the need for, and our efforts towards, constitutional reform. I sat on the platform with other distinguished speakers including the Ukrainian Patriarch, Ambassadors, and former Ambassadors to and from Ukraine, military generals, and economists.
In September of the same year, Armada took the well known historian and author David Barton to lecture to the students of law at Shevchenko University. He held them spellbound for nearly 3 hours at Kyiv’s esteemed university.
Following that, we announced the winners of our essay contest and gave out cash prizes to the contestants. The celebration was held at the Kyiv City Hall where more than 50 of Ukraine’s finest young minds gathered to learn and discuss how to bring change to their amazing nation.
These are only a few of the things we have done and are doing. Thank you so much for your part in these efforts.
The best is yet to come!