The Russian aggression against Ukraine, which has started in 2014 (including the takeover of Crimea) and dramatically intensified since February 24, 2022, has altered regional security in major ways. The correlation of forces has shifted, anxiety has grown and trust evaporated. Russian blockade has impacted trade, with rippling effects around the globe. The sea has become an arena of the numerous acts of the war. Both U.S. and NATO have discovered a need for a forward looking regional security strategy while being faced with more assertive and aggressive Russia. Turkey has embarked on its balancing act. Ukraine is in search of some working mechanisms to safeguard its security and sovereignty.

Volodymyr Dubovyk is an Associate Professor, Department of International Relations and Director, Center for International Studies, Odesa I. I. Mechnikov National University (Ukraine). V. Dubovyk has conducted research at the Kennan Institute, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (1997, 2006-2007), at the Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland (2002), taught at the University of Washington (Seattle) in 2013 and at St. Edwards university/University of Texas (Austin) in 2016-17. Volodymyr has been a Fulbright Scholar twice. He is the co-author of “Ukraine and European Security” (Macmillan, 1999) and has published numerous articles on US-Ukraine relations, regional and international security, and Ukraine’s foreign policy.

Currently he is a Visiting Professor at the Tufts University. He is also a recipient of the emergency grant from the Kennan Institute (2022), non-resident fellowships from the George Washington University (2022-2023) and University of Toronto (2022-2023). Areas of expertise: Ukraine, Transatlantic Relations, U.S., Black Sea security, security studies.