Open Letter from Canadian Scholars on Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine

As Russia’s onslaught against Ukraine grinds on, each day brings some new horror committed by the Russian military:  cities reduced to rubble, hospitals and care homes wantonly attacked, fleeing civilians shot.  Yet, as time passes, the impact of the news from Ukraine inevitably becomes dulled, and people here inevitably turn their attention to other concerns, saddened and outraged by the attack on Ukraine, but assuming this country is not directly concerned by it.  This attitude, however, is mistaken.  Canada has much to lose from a Russian victory in Ukraine.

This is a moment for Canadians to think about our country’s place in the world, and the kind of world we want to live in.  Like Ukraine, Canada is a country of some 40 million, with a good name in the world and an advanced economy.  However, and also like Ukraine, Canada is not a great power, but a middle-ranking one, with a solid military but without its own nuclear deterrent.  Since World War II, our foreign policy has been to support global institutions that protect the rights of small and medium-sized nations to be fully independent.  This guiding principle informed Canada’s leading role in setting up the United Nations, whose founding documents enshrine the right of self-determination and prohibit wars of conquest.  It also informed Canada’s support for Nato, a multilateral framework in which Canada participates as a full member, not a dependent of the United States.  These policies have served Canada well and have made the last 80 years a period of stability for our nation.

Right now, there is a significant chance that Russia will conquer Ukraine, annexing portions of it and installing a satellite regime in the rest.  This would be a cataclysmic event in the history of contemporary Europe, the Atlantic Alliance, and the world.  It would mean that Russia can intimidate and bully every European state, and of course can prevent any new members from acceding to Nato.  Indeed, it would mean that Nato itself will be seen as a paper tiger, unable or unwilling to preserve the liberal order in Europe that was supposed to have been sealed with the end of the Cold War.  And it will mean that the threat of aggression by large states against smaller ones will become much more serious.  Recent years have already shown Canadians the outlines of the dangerous world that would come into being with a Russian victory.  With China’s abduction of “the two Michaels,” who were used as bargaining chips in that country’s conflict with the United States, we caught a glimpse of that world.  With the recent Ottawa convoy, which was partially financed by right-wing elements in the United States and publicly supported by some American politicians, we caught another.  In a world where Russia has subjugated Ukraine, such brazen attempts to coerce Canada and infringe its sovereignty will become more frequent and more severe.  Of course, there will always be more and less powerful countries in the world.  Living next to the United States, Canadians understand what it means to have a powerful and sometimes overbearing neighbour.  But a Russian victory in this war will mean that the great powers—including the United States—will become completely untethered from the norms of international conduct that Canada relies on for its own autonomy.

Thus, apart from the claims of morality and justice, Ukraine’s victory in this war represents a vital national interest for Canada.  Right now, a strange division of labour prevails in this war, with Ukrainian soldiers and civilians fighting and dying, and Nato hesitantly supplying them with only some of the arms they need for their defence.  Yet Nato, including Canada, need Ukraine to win; it is not hyperbole to say that Ukraine is fighting for us, and for now fighting alone.  For our own sake, we need to ensure that Ukraine has all the means it needs to bring its war to a successful conclusion.  For our own sake, we should also be prepared to bear the financial burdens of the sanctions that can suffocate the Russian war machine.  For our own sake, Canadians need to understand the stakes of this war, and act accordingly.  And that is why my colleagues and I wrote and signed this letter.

 

Matthew Light, University of Toronto

 

For the full letter please visit https://canscholarsukraine.github.io/statement/

 

Authors

Aurel Braun, Political Science and Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto Mississauga

Aaron Erlich, Department of Political Science, McGill University

Juliet Johnson, Department of Political Science, McGill University

Andres Kasekamp, Department of History and Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto

Ksenya Kiebuzinski, Petro Jacyk Central and East European Resource Centre, University of Toronto

Matthew Light, Centre of Criminology and Sociolegal Studies and Centre for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies, University of Toronto

Victor Ostapchuk, Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, University of Toronto

Maria Popova, Department of Political Science, McGill University

Peter Solomon, Department of Political Science and Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto

Frank Sysyn, Director, Peter Jacyk Centre for Ukrainian Historical Research, Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Alberta

Signatories

Evren Altinkas, Department of History, University of Guelph

Veronika Ambros, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures and Centre for Comparative Literature, University of Toronto

Olga Andriewsky, Department of History, Trent University

Dominique Arel, School of Political Studies, University of Ottawa

Filiz Tutku Aydın, Department of Political Science and Public Administration, Social Sciences University of Ankara

Romana M. Bahry, York University

Eduard Baidaus, Holodomor Research and Education Consortium, Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Alberta

Jennifer Baker, Department of English, University of Ottawa

Jaroslaw Balan, Director, Kule Ukrainian Canadian Studies Centre, Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Alberta

Edana Beauvais, Department of Political Science, Simon Fraser University

Doris L. Bergen, Department of History, University of Toronto

Serhiy Bilenky, Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Alberta

Jonathan Bordo, Department of Cultural Studies, Trent University

Katherine Bowers, Department of Central, Eastern, and Northern European Studies, University of British Columbia

Ruth Bradley-St-Cyr, Department of English, University of Ottawa

Amila Buturovic, Department of Humanities and Program in Religious Studies, York University

Alina Bykova, History Department, Stanford University

Joan DeBardeleben, Institute of European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies, Carleton University

Andrea Chandler, Department of Political Science, Carleton University

Zahar Davydov, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Toronto

Oleksa Drachewych, Department of History, Western University

Marta Dyczok, Department of History and Political Science, Western University

Rick Fawn, School of International Relations, University of St Andrews

Erica L. Fraser, Department of History, Carleton University

Anne Godlewska, Department of Geography and Planning, Queen’s University

Paul Goode, Institute of European, Russian and Eurasian Studies, Carleton University

Andrey V. Gornostaev, Department of History, University of Toronto

Suzanne Harris-Brandts, School of Architecture and Urbanism and Institute of European, Russian and Eurasian Studies, Carleton University

Lonny Harrison, Department of Modern Languages, The University of Texas at Arlington

Edwin W. Holland, Departments of Anthropology and Social Research Methods, John Abbott College

Kate Holland, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Toronto

Oleh S. Ilnytzkyj, Department of Modern Languages and Cultural Studies, University of Alberta

Kristy Ironside, Department of History and Classical Studies, McGill University

Ivan (John) Jaworsky, Department of Political Science, University of Waterloo

Steven Jobbitt, Department of History, Lakehead University

Olga Kesarchuk, Petro Jacyk Program for the Study of Ukraine, Centre for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies, University of Toronto

Natalia Khanenko-Friesen, Director, Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies and Department of Modern Languages and Cultural Studies, University of Alberta

Bohdan Klid, Holodomor Research and Education Consortium, Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Alberta

Ann Komaromi, Centre for Comparative Literature and Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Toronto

Bohdan Kordan, Department of Political Studies, University of Saskatchewan

Leon Kosals, Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies, University of Toronto

Matthew Kott, Institute for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Uppsala University

Taras Koznarsky, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Toronto

Christina E. Kramer, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Toronto

Svitlana (Lana) Krys, Department of English, MacEwan University

Alexander Lanoszka, Department of Political Science, University of Waterloo

Joo-Yup Lee, Independent scholar, Eurasian history

Leonid Livak, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures and Centre for Jewish Studies, University of Toronto

Jeff Love, Department of Languages, Clemson University

Kassandra Luciuk, Department of History, Dalhousie University

Lubomyr Luciuk, Department of Political Science and Economics, Royal Military College of Canada

Clare McGovern, Department of Political Science, Simon Fraser University

Irena R Makaryk, Department of English, University of Ottawa

David R. Marples, Department of History, Classics and Religion and Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Alberta

Gozde Mercan, Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, University of Toronto

Milena Methodieva, Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, University of Toronto

Toivo Miljan, Department of Political Science, Wilfrid Laurier University

Rebecca Mitchell, Department of History, Middlebury College

Milana Nikolko, Institute of European, Russian and Eurasian Studies, Carleton University

Lyudmila Parts, Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, McGill University

Natalka Patsiurko, Independent scholar, Sociology

Nina Paulovicova, Center for Humanities, Athabasca University

Kaarel Piirimäe, Institute of History and Archaeology and Department of Political History, University of Tartu and University of Helsinki

Natalia Pylypiuk, Department of Modern Languages and Cultural Studies, University of Alberta

Anne Raine, Department of English, University of Ottawa

Johannes Remy, Department of History, Wilfrid Laurier University

Tanya Richardson, Anthropology Program and Department of Global Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University

Maris Rowe-McCulloch, Department of History, University of Regina

Joseph Schallert, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Toronto

Roman Senkus, Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Alberta

Ivan Simic, Charles University, Prague

Myroslav Shkandrij, Department of German and Slavic Studies, University of Manitoba

Ivan Shmatko, Department of Sociology, University of Alberta

Anna Shternshis, Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures and Centre for Jewish Studies, University of Toronto

Alison K. Smith, Department of History, University of Toronto

Robert Stacey, Department of English, University of Ottawa

Marko R. Stech, Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Alberta

Jeff Stepnisky, Department of Sociology, MacEwan University

Maria Subtelny, Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, University of Toronto

Maxim Tarnawsky, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Toronto

Tamara Trojanowska, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Toronto

Donna Tussing Orwin, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Toronto

Piotr J Wróbel, Department of History, University of Toronto

Crina Viju-Miljusevic, Institute of European, Russian and Eurasian Studies, Carleton University

Lynne Viola, Department of History, University of Toronto

Alex Vukovich, Department of History, King’s College London

Lucan Way, Department of Political Science, University of Toronto

Lukasz Wodzynski, Department of German, Nordic, and Slavic, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Renee Worringer, Department of History, University of Guelph

Murat Yaşar, Department of History, State University of New York at Oswego

Serhy Yekelchyk, Departments of History and of Germanic and Slavic Studies, University of Victoria

Natalia Zajac, John Rylands Research Institute and Library, University of Manchester

Andriy Zayarnyuk, Department of History, University of Winnipeg