Editor’s Note: This piece is adapted from a speech Carl Gershman gave to the Ukrainian Catholic Education Foundation on October 24, 2015 and published in the Atlantic Council.
Preparing for tonight’s talk has been an unexpected process of learning and discovery. I had thought I understood Ukraine, having given a number of talks and written articles urging the US government to give greater support to the struggle being waged in Ukraine to build a democratic and lawful society that would join it to Europe and the West. I have said many times, quoting former Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, that Ukraine is “the epicenter of the global struggle for democracy.” I believe it still is, and that we should do whatever we can to help it win its two-front war to reform the economy and defeat Russian aggression in the east.