On February 9, 2009, the American Foreign Policy Council convened a Capitol Hill conference on U.S. policy toward Russia. The high-profile event featured presentations by AFPC President Herman Pirchner, former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Steven Pifer, former Undersecretary of State for Arms Control Stephen Rademaker, U.S. Army War College Professor Stephen Blank, and AFPC Senior Associate E. Wayne Merry.
On October 15 and 16, 2008, the annual roundtable series titled Ukraine’s Quest for Mature Nation Statehood was held at the Library of Congress, also the event’s principal sponsor. AFPC is a longtime partner and co-sponsor of the series, and as a member of the event’s Steering Committee, AFPC’s Jeff Smith worked with the conference organizer, Center for US-Ukrainian Relations founder Walter Zaryckj, to plan and coordinate the two-day event.
On June 23, 2005, AFPC, in cooperation with the Center for US-Ukrainian Relations (CUSUR) and the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA), sponsored the second annual U.S.-Ukrainian Security Dialogue on Capitol Hill.
AFPC Senior Associate Wayne Merry participated in a major conference on “Asia-Pacific Realities, Perspectives, Projects: XXI Century” at Russia’s Far Eastern State University in Vladivostok, from November 29th to the 31st, 2002.
Since last year’s presidential crisis in Ukraine, the importance of U.S.-Ukrainian relations has taken on a new significance. Not only is Ukraine delicately balanced between East and West it is also one of the five largest recipients of U.S. foreign aid. Yet the country is too often considered only in the shadow of her Russian neighbor.