15 August 2014.—Recent events in Ukraine, part of which was annexed by Russia, while another part became a war zone owing to the actions of pro-Russian separatists indicated, among other serious consequences a severe crisis of the existing political architecture in Europe, with potentially wider international repercussions. Such principles as international security guarantees, the existing friendship and partnership agreement between Ukraine and Russia, and the “inviolability of sovereign borders” norm were effectively trampled by the Russian government in its pursuit of a dangerous revanchist course.

These events also indicated a glaring need for analysis of the past and the present history and dynamics of border relations, for determining both commonalities and regional peculiarities, and, if possible, foreshadowing the future course of international and regional relations.

On 16–17 October 2014, the Centre for Political and Regional Studies at the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies will hold an international scholarly conference, “Negotiating Borders: Comparing the Experience of Canada, Europe, and Ukraine,” featuring both early-career and established scholars, who will present their original papers on such topics as geopolitics and regional politics; all-European, regional and trans-border cooperation; borders and international law.

Livestream of Negotiating Borders: Comparing the Experience of Canada, Europe, and Ukraine

The conference program is available here. To download a PDF copy, click here.

In the video box below, you will be able to view and listen to all conference presentations.

Having trouble viewing the video? Please try the conference page on Livestream.

Thursday, 16 October

Opening & welcome
Bohdan Harasymiw, Acting Coordinator for Political and Regional
Studies, CIUS
Lesley Cormack, Dean, Faculty of Arts
Peter Goldring, MP Edmonton East
Linda Duncan, MP Edmonton Strathcona

 Session 1: Keynote Address

Dr. Emmanuel Brunet-Jailly, University of Victoria, “Border Disputes around the World: The Case of Ukraine”
 Discussion

 Session 2: North America and Europe
Chair: Bohdan Klid, Assistant Director, CIUS

Papers:
Heather Nicol, Trent University, “Critical Observations on Regional
Cooperation in North America: Implications for European
‘Edges.’ ”
Ilkka Liikanen, Karelian Institute, University of Eastern Finland,
“The Lost Momentum of Wider Europe? Changing Spatial
Imaginaries and Sovereignty Concepts of EU External Relations.”
Ignacy Jóźwiak, University of Warsaw, “Between Integration and
Exclusion: Ukraine and Its Western Borders”

 Discussant:
Bohdan Harasymiw, Acting Coordinator for Political and Regional
Studies, CIUS

Friday, 17 October

Session 3: Ukraine and Its Neighbours

Chair: Roman Petryshyn, MacEwan University

Papers:
James Wesley Scott, Karelian Institute, University of Eastern Finland, “The Dialogical Production of Geopolitical Identities: The EU as Viewed by Ukrainian NGOs”
Volodymyr Kulikov, Karazin National University of Kharkiv, “Borders within Borders: Foreign Industrialists and the Transformation of the Landscape in the Donbas (Late Nineteenth–Early Twentieth Centuries)”
Stanley Fedun, University of Toronto, “Does a Divide Exist? Putin’s
Fabrication of an Alternative Regional Reality as Justification
for Neo-Soviet Expansionism”

Discussants: 

Peter Roccia, MacEwan University; Valerii Chalyj