Dear Editor:
I read with interest Roman Tymotsko’s report about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s speech at Stanford University that appeared in the September 12 issue of The Ukrainian Weekly. Regrettably, the reporter missed two crucial details. Introducing President Zelenskyy, Michael McFaul, director of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, emphasized the historical significance of the fact that this was the first visit of a Ukrainian president to Stanford University. Toward the end of a lengthy question and answer exchange, Larry Diamond, professor of political science at Stanford, America’s leading scholar of democracy and the author of “Ill Winds: Saving Democracy from Russian Rage, Chinese Ambition, and American Complacency,” came up to the microphone. He asked for the president’s advice on how to stave off the rising authoritarianism that challenges our world order. President Zelenskyy replied that Ukraine is a nation that shares democratic values with its partners. Therefore, Ukraine’s leaders must be present at the negotiation table when the great powers decide the fate of the world.
Dr. Victoria A. Malko
Department of History
California State University,
Fresno, Calif.