“After the War in Ukraine: Prospects and Implications for Europe and South Caucasus”

“After the War in Ukraine: Prospects and Implications for Europe and South Caucasus”

Event Date(s)
Location
Tbilisi, Georgia

June 9, 2023

UGSP Conference

Within the UG-Security Platform (UGSP) the School of Social Sciences of the University of Georgia (UG) is planning to organize fourth annual conference on June 9, 2023. The major effort of the conference titled “After the War in Ukraine: Prospects and Implications for Europe and South Caucasus,” is devoted to the ongoing Russian war against Ukraine, its potential strategic (military and political) outcomes, and impact on regional and international security. We ask speakers and participants to look into the future and attempt to distill in the context of the Russian war against Ukraine the relevant conclusions upon which a general silhouette of the security arrangements in Europe and the South Caucasus can be identified. It implies the institutional dynamics of the EU and NATO, the national strategies of the nations involved, conflicts resolution in post-Soviet space and (new) conceptual proposals for strengthening regional security and cooperation.

The event’s aim, which has been initiated since 2019, is to promote a high-level academic and policy-related discussion in which leading foreign and local experts explore the range of provided topics and contribute to generating new (theoretical or policy) concepts, discovering respective solutions and providing recommendations. The conference is primarily designed for established academic researchers, relevant policy experts, representatives of civil society organizations and think tanks, professionals, and individuals with respective analytical backgrounds.

The preliminary conference design includes the first panel to be devoted for key note speakers, the second panel divided into three working groups (workshops) on specific policy issue, to allow invited experts, analysts and researchers to review and discuss multiple policy, strategic options that could contribute to sustainable security mechanisms in Europe and beyond; and the third panel, where the results of the workshop sessions (2nd panel) will be discussed. The discussion and workshop-panel results will be finalized in a follow-up report to be published.

Design of UGSP – Conference:

Major goal of the fourth UGSP annual conference is to look into the future and based on the plausible outcome of the Russia-Ukraine war to discuss and outline the post-war scenario, the framework of the future security architecture in Europe, balance of power in post-Soviet space and prospects of conflicts resolution in this area. Although the state of play in the battlefield and the prospects of political solution are quite vague at the moment it is high time to launch discussions on post-war arrangements and its implications on the European security and beyond.

In order to meet this challenging task, the conference will have specific design consisting of ordinary and experts’ working groups sessions, content wise interconnected and transitioning to each other.

Panel I – Options of Military Outcome and Respective Politico-Economic Consequences
Distinguished Speakers will present their vision on ongoing developments in the battlefield and discuss political, economic and aspects of the war. However, the focus will be driven on how they see the end of Russia-Ukraine war and what would be the major plausible outcomes and implications of it in the regional and international dimensions.

Panel II – Working Groups Discussion
Working Group One
 – European Security Architecture;
Working group one should, but not limited, to discuss following topics: Post-war security architecture in Europe; Prospects of NATO and EU enlargement and their institutional interplay; Establishment of a new and/or enhancement of existing regional bilateral and multilateral alliances in Europe; Security guarantees for Ukraine and other post-Soviet states.Working Group Two – Russia and Post-Soviet Space;
Working group two should, but not limited, to discuss following topics: Prospects of Putin’s power and  Russia’s role in post-Soviet space after the end of Russia-Ukraine war; Russia’s relations with the West (USA, UK, Germany, France); Russia’s relations with China; Prospects of CSTO and Eurasian Economic Union; Political, security and economic modalities in post-Soviet area;

Working Group Three – Conflicts Resolution in Post-Soviet Space.
Working group three should, but not limited, to discuss following topics: The prospects of conflicts (Transdnestria, Abkhazia, South Ossetia (Tskinvali Region), Karabakh) resolution in post-Soviet area after the end of Russia-Ukraine war.  The impact of the outcome of Russia-Ukraine war on conflicting regions such as Transdnestria, Abkhazia, South Ossetia (Tskinvali Region), Karabakh; The role of USA, EU, Russia, Turkey in conflicts resolution in post-Soviet states.
Each working group will consist of from a moderator and up to four participants (researchers, experts and subject matter specialists) to stimulate discussion and come to major findings and conclusions. Representatives from the audience (up to 20 people), which will be presented to each working group, will be given a chance to ask questions and express their opinion as well.

Panel III – Major Findings and Conclusions
The moderators of each working group will present vision, essential findings and conclusions that have been distilled during the discussions.
Based on the third session organizers of the conference will produce a follow-up conference report to be published.

Invited Speakers

“After the War in Ukraine: Prospects and Implications for Europe and South Caucasus”
Margarita Assenova

Margarita Assenova is a Senior Fellow at the Jamestown Foundation in Washington, D.C. and a regular contributor to its flagship publication Eurasia Daily Monitor. She also teaches Eastern Europe Advanced Area Studies courses at the Foreign Service Institute, Department of State, as a contractor. 

Assenova is a recipient of the John Knight Professional Journalism Fellowship at Stanford University for her reporting on nationalism in the Balkans. Her articles appeared in US and European newspapers, magazines, and online publications, including RFE/RL Newsline and Balkan Report, The Hill, The National Interest, The Washington Times, Transitions Online, Balkan Times, Baltic Rim Economies Review, The Capital Weekly, Internationale Politik Quarterly, World Finance Review Magazine, Future Prospects, and others. She has also written extensively on Russian disinformation for Polygraph.info, a Voice of America counter-disinformation program.

Assenova has authored book chapters and journal articles on security, energy, and democracy published by CSIS Press, Brassey’s, Freedom House, Bertelsmann Foundation Publishers, the University of New Haven, the Jamestown Foundation and the Center for European Policy Analysis. Her latest books include Eurasian Disunion: Russia’s Vulnerable Flanks (Jamestown Foundation, 2016), co-authored with Janusz Bugajski, a critical study on Russian subversion in Europe, Eurasia and Central Asia, and Azerbaijan and the New Energy Geopolitics of Southeastern Europe, Ed. (2015). Her report Nord Stream 2: Myths, Reality, and the Way Forward (CEPA, 2018) became instrumental in mobilizing efforts to curtail Russian energy domination ambitions in Europe

“After the War in Ukraine: Prospects and Implications for Europe and South Caucasus”
Dr. Robert E. Hamilton

Dr. Robert E. Hamilton (Bob)

Research Professor at Strategic Studies Institute and USAWC Press

Areas of Expertise: Strategic Competition & Rivalry

Dr. Robert E. Hamilton is the Research Professor of Eurasian Studies in the Strategic Studies Institute at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, currently serving as a U.S. advisor to the Ministry of Defense of Georgia. He was commissioned in Armor Branch upon graduation from the United States Military Academy in 1988. His company grade assignments were with the 2nd Squadron, 4th U.S. Cavalry; Regiment at Fort Stewart, Georgia; with the 5th Squadron, 15th U.S. Cavalry; Regiment and with the 2d Battalion, 33d Armor Regiment, 194th Armor Brigade, both at Fort Knox, Kentucky. In 1996, Dr. Hamilton entered the Eurasian Foreign Area Officer training program, completing the Russian Language Course at the Defense Language Institute and graduating from the George C. Marshall Center for European  Security Studies. In June 2002 Dr. Hamilton was assigned to the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, where he served as a war planner for Operation Iraqi Freedom at CENTCOM’s Forward Headquarters in Qatar and later as the desk officer for Uzbekistan. From 2005-2006 Dr. Hamilton served as the Chief of Regional Engagement for Combined Forces Command-Afghanistan, and from 2006-2008 he served as the Chief of the Office of Defense Cooperation in Tbilisi, Georgia. From 2008-2009 he was the U.S. Army Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He served as an instructor in the Department of National Security and Strategy at the U.S. Army War College from 2011-2013, and as the Deputy Chief of the Security Assistance Office at the Office of Defense Representative-Pakistan from 2013-2014, before returning to the U.S. Army War College to resume his teaching duties. While teaching at the Army War College, Dr. Hamilton has served as the DOD Russia Policy Advisor to the International Syria Support Group in Geneva (July-August 2016), as the Chief of Assessments for the NATO Special Operations Component Command-Afghanistan (February-May 2017), and as the Chief of the Russian De-confliction Cell at Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve (August-October 2017). Dr. Hamilton retired from the Army on 1 July 2018. His awards and decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star, the Order of St. George, the German Armed Forces Leistungsabzeichen (Achievement Badge-Gold Award), the Parachute Badge and the Combat Action Badge. He is a graduate of the German Armed Forces Staff College (2002) and the U.S. Army War College (2009). His academic degrees include a B.S. from the U.S. Military Academy, an M.A. in Russian Studies and a Ph.D in International Relations, both from the University of Virginia.

“After the War in Ukraine: Prospects and Implications for Europe and South Caucasus”
Konstantine Ioseliani

Konstantine Ioseliani is a lecturer, researcher, and academic staff member at the School of Social Sciences at the University of Georgia. He is currently pursuing his doctoral degree at the University of Georgia, focusing on the concept of Resilience. His doctoral thesis, titled "Resilience Phenomenon: Conceptual Significance and Practical Policy on State Social Resilience in the Context of the Russian-Ukrainian War", explores the complexities and implications of resilience within the realm of international conflict. Through his research, he aims to develop practical approaches and policies to enhance state social resilience. Konstantine holds a Master's Degree in International and European Security from the prestigious Geneva Center for Security Policy/Université de Genève. Prior to that, he obtained a Bachelor's degree in Public Administration from the Georgian Technical University and a Master's degree in the same field from the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs. Additionally, he has expanded his knowledge and expertise through participation in the Senior Course N111 at the NATO Defense College in Rome and qualification courses at the US Joint Force Command in Washington DC, the Austrian Study Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution, and the Estonian School of Diplomacy. Before embarking on his academic career, Konstantine Ioseliani served in various capacities at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. He held the position of Senior Counselor at the NATO Division of the Security Policy and Euro-Atlantic Integration Department. He also served as the Head of the Central and Western Europe Division within the European Affairs Department. Konstantine represented Georgia as a senior political counselor in Stockholm and later as the Chargé d'Affaires, representing Georgia to Finland. 

“After the War in Ukraine: Prospects and Implications for Europe and South Caucasus”
Dr. Rimvydas Baltaduonis

Rimvydas Baltaduonis, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the Economics Department at Gettysburg College and a Co-Director of Gettysburg Lab for Experimental Economics (GLEE). He is also an affiliated faculty with the International & Global Studies Program at Gettysburg College and has chaired it during 2018-2019. While being a longtime affiliate of the Institute for Regulatory Law & Economics (IRLE), Dr. Baltaduonis also worked as a Visiting Senior Research Scholar at Columbia’s Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP) during 2019-2020 academic year and a Visiting Senior Scholar at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) from 2015 to 2017. Dr. Baltaduonis' broad areas of research interest are industrial organization, energy and environmental economics, energy security, experimental and behavioral economics. At Gettysburg College, he teaches Industrial Organization, Energy & Security, Energy Economics and Experimental Economics. The National Science Foundation, the International Foundation for Research in Experimental Economics and the Australian Research Council have supported his research. Prior to assuming his position at Gettysburg College, Dr. Baltaduonis was an IFREE Visiting Post-doctoral Fellow in the Interdisciplinary Center for Economic Science at George Mason University and later at the Economics Science Institute at Chapman University. He earned his PhD and MA in Economics from the University of Connecticut and a BSc in Economics from Vilnius University in Lithuania.

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