"ENGAGING UKRAINE IN 2009"

New Policy Paper by Andres Aslund, Jonathan Elkind and Steven Pifer
From The Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C.

U.S.-Ukraine Business Council, Wash, D.C., March 17, 2009

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WASHINGTON, D.C. - Attached for your information is "ENGAGING UKRAINE IN 2009," a new Brookings policy paper, number 13, authored by Anders Aslund, Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics; Jonathan Elkind, nonresident senior fellow on energy security issues at the Brookings Institution; and Steven Pifer, visiting fellow in the Center on the United States and Europe at Brookings. 

On Tuesday, March 17, 2009The Brookings Institution Center on the United States and Europe (CUSE) hosted experts Steven Pifer, Anders Aslund and Jonathan Elkind for a discussion of their new Brookings policy paper, "Engaging Ukraine in 2009" (see attachment). They also discussed the challenges facing Ukraine and offered recommendations to the Obama administration.

As the global economic crisis deepens, few countries have been hit as hard as Ukraine. Complicating the country’s plight has been a long-running bout of political turmoil, and with the approach of presidential elections later this year, the partisan battles are intensifying, pitting an unpopular president against his own prime minister.

Abroad, Ukraine faces a more assertive Russia, and western European neighbors doubt Ukraine’s ability to follow a European course. How should the United States, which has devoted considerable time, energy and resources to promoting Ukraine’s transformation during the past 17 years, now engage with Kyiv?

The new Brookings policy paper "Engaging Ukraine in 2009" looks at U.S. interests in Ukraine, describes four major challenges currently facing the country, and offers recommendations for U.S. policy(see attachment to this e-mail to read the complete policy paper). 

Dr. Anders Aslund and former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, Steven Pifer,serve as Senior Advisors to the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC), Washington, D.C., and it over 100 members who are active investorsin Ukraine, www.usubc.org.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction and Summary ..................................................1
U.S. Interests in Ukraine .....................................................3
Four Major Challenges Facing Ukraine in 2009..................5
An Agenda for U.S. Engagement with Ukraine..................11
Endnotes ...........................................................................17
About the Authors..............................................................21

LINK: See attachment to this e-mail and http://www.brookings.edu/.