Last week, the AUK students from the Global Management program had the opportunity to discuss the US foreign policy in the Balkans and the US successful countering of russia’s hybrid influence with our GUEST speaker, Ambassador Roderick W Moore, the first U.S. Ambassador to Montenegro, former Charge d’Affaires and Deputy Chief of Mission at U.S. Embassies in Serbia and Bulgaria, Professor of Practice in the School of Politics and Global Studies at Arizona State University, a member of ASU Leadership, Diplomacy and National Security Lab.
While explaining the impact that Ukraine's continuing victories against russia has had on the politics of the Balkans, as well as the future diplomatic and economic opportunities for Ukraine in that region, Ambassador Moore outlined: “Ukraine's successes against Russia have really hurt russia and its interests in the Balkans in ways that it probably wasn't banking on eight months ago. I do believe that Ukraine has an opportunity to displace russia to a certain extent in a way that will benefit both Ukraine and the countries of the region.
In order to reach this a few things should be done by Ukraine.
One of them is a more significant, higher diplomatic presence. Another thing is trade. And, of course, russia has certain assets, including energy. It's about four times as large as the Ukrainian trade with these regions. I'd like you to send commercial advisors to help find opportunities for Ukrainian companies to condition the region to deal with each other. Several Balkan countries share the Black Sea with you. I think there's going to be more openness on the part of the Balkans to work with Ukraine.”
We are highly thankful to Ambassador Roderick Moore for his inspiring and insightful talk with AUK students, as well as to Mark Voyger, Program Director for the MSc in Global Management at AUK, for organizing this fruitful discussion for our AUK students.
Dnipro
