Sunday, 9 March 2014

Via: http://alliruk.livejournal.com/687418.html

We, the undersigned, are scholars of Ukrainian and Russian affairs whose knowledge of and respect for the people of the region bring us together today. Although we hold diverse views regarding the origins, evolution, and likely outcome of the current crisis in Ukraine, we agree on the following five points:

1) The continued Russian occupation of Crimea cannot be supported by reference to international law, international norms, or interstate agreements. Russian troops in Ukraine should return to their barracks immediately and all parties should allow the OSCE to enter Crimea as a neutral observer. The use of troops in unmarked uniforms must cease.

2) No status referendum in Crimea can be considered legitimate under the current circumstances. Such referenda require, at minimum, the agreement of national and regional governments, a clear question, sustained public discussion of the ramifications of yes and no votes, and the option of international monitoring to ensure a free and fair process. They cannot be held under military occupation and should be considered only as a last resort after all other democratic avenues of resolution have failed.

3) In addition to early presidential elections, the acting Ukrainian government should call early parliamentary elections and invite international election observers to monitor the campaign and the vote.

4) Ukrainian authorities should adopt deliberately inclusive policies towards the linguistic, ethnic, and cultural groups of Ukraine in order to increase mutual trust and facilitate national reconciliation. Sustainable inclusion may require a newly elected Ukrainian government to introduce measures to increase political decentralization.

5) Interested parties around the world should avoid unnecessarily inflammatory, confrontational, and militaristic rhetoric in regards to the conflict. Such rhetoric inevitably raises tensions and endangers the lives and livelihoods of all people in the region.

We call upon all parties to work towards a peaceful, sustainable, and fair resolution to the current conflict in Ukraine.

Authors

Juliet Johnson, Department of Political Science, McGill University, Canada

Maria Popova, Department of Political Science, McGill University, Canada

Signatories

Şener Aktürk, International Relations, Koç University, Turkey

Mikhail Alexseev, Department of Political Science, San Diego State University, USA

Lala Aliyeva, Baku State University, Azerbaijan

Tarik Cyril Amar, Department of History, Columbia University, USA

Hilary Appel, Department of Government, Claremont McKenna College, USA

Dominique Arel, Department of Political Science, University of Ottawa, Canada

Pavel K. Baev, Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), Norway

Andrew Barnes, Department of Political Science, Kent State University, USA

Mark R. Beissinger, Department of Politics, Princeton University, New Jersey, USA

Michael Bernhard, Department of Political Science, University of Florida, USA

Doug Blum, Department of Political Science, Providence College, USA

Archie Brown, Oxford University, UK

Wayles Browne, Department of Linguistics, Cornell University, USA

Yitzhak Brudny, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel

Valerie Bunce, Department of Government, Cornell University, USA

David Cameron, Department of Political Science, Yale University, USA

Ian W. Campbell, Department of History, University of California-Davis, USA

Giorgi Cheishvili, I. Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Georgia

Vitaly Chernetsky, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Kansas, USA

Kathleen Collins, Department of Political Science, University of Minnesota, USA

Timothy J. Colton, Department of Government, Harvard University, USA

Alexander Cooley, Department of Political Science, Barnard College, Columbia University, USA

Jane Curry, Department of Political Science, Santa Clara University, USA

Keith Darden, School of International Service, American University, USA

Karen Dawisha, Havighurst Center for Russian and Post-Soviet Studies, Miami University, USA

Magdalena Dembinska, Department of Political Science, Université de Montréal, Canada

Georgi Derluguian, Social Research and Public Policy, New York University – Abu Dhabi, UAE

Megan Dixon, College of Idaho, USA

Marta Dyczok, Departments of History and Political Science, Western University, Canada

Johannes Due Enstad, Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI), Norway

Brad Epperly, Department of Political Science, University of South Carolina, USA

Matthew Evangelista, Department of Government, Cornell University, USA

Yakov Feygin, Department of History, University of Pennsylvania

Evgeny Finkel, Department of Political Science, The George Washington University, USA

Joshua First, Department of History, University of Mississippi, USA

M. Steven Fish, Department of Political Science, University of California, Berkeley, USA

Benjamin Forest, Department of Geography, McGill University, Canada

Timothy Frye, Department of Political Science, Columbia University, USA

Scott Gehlbach, Department of Political Science, University of Wisconsin – Madison, USA

Julie George, Department of Political Science, Queens College, CUNY, USA

Ted Gerber, Department of Sociology, University of Wisconsin – Madison, USA

Alyssa Dinega Gillespie, Department of German and Russian, University of Notre Dame, USA

Sergey Glebov, Smith and Amherst Colleges, USA

Helena Yakovlev Golani, Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto, Canada

Dmitry Gorenburg, Harvard University, USA

Kate Graney, Department of Government, Skidmore College, USA

Farid Guliyev, Jacobs University Bremen, Germany

Joshua Hagen, Department of Geography, Marshall University, USA

Meryem Hakim, Department of International Relations, Konya Necmettin Erbakan University, Turkey

Henry Hale, Elliot School of International Affairs, The George Washington University, USA

Stephen E. Hanson, College of William & Mary, USA

Yoshiko Herrera, Department of Political Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA

Ted Hopf, Department of Political Science, National University of Singapore, Singapore

Alexandra Hrycak, Department of Sociology, Reed College, USA

Eugene Huskey, Department of Political Science, Stetson University, USA

Yuliya Ilchuk, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Chicago, USA

Oksana Iurkova, Institute of History of Ukraine, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine

Adrian Ivakhiv, University of Vermont, USA

Kornely Kakachia, Department of Political Science, I. Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Georgia

Roger E. Kanet, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (emeritus) and University of Miami, USA

Nargis Kassenova, Department of International Relations and Regional Studies, KIMEP University, Kazakhstan

Sean Kay, Department of Politics and Government, Ohio Wesleyan University, USA

Charles King, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, USA

Jeffrey Kopstein, Department of Political Science, University of Toronto, Canada

Bohdan Kordan, Department of Political Studies, University of Saskatchewan, Canada

Judith Deutsch Kornblatt, University of Wisconsin-Madison (emerita), USA

Nadiya Kravets, Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University, USA

Martha Kuchar, Department of English, Roanoke College, USA

Andrew Kuchins, Center for Strategic and International Studies, USA

Sergiy Kudelia, Department of Political Science, Baylor University, USA

Tomila Lankina, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK

Bidzina Lebanidze, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany

Torsten Lorenz, Institute of Economic and Social History, Philosophical Faculty, Charles University, Czech Republic

Pauline Jones Luong, Department of Political Science, University of Michigan, USA

Jason Lyall, Department of Political Science, Yale University, USA

Andrey Makarychev, Institute of Government and Politics, University of Tartu, Estonia

Lawrence P. Markowitz, Department of Political Science, Rowan University, USA

Kimberley Marten, Department of Political Science, Barnard College, Columbia University, USA

Richard Matthews, Social Justice and Peace Studies, King’s University College at the University of Western Ontario, Canada

Eric McGlinchey, Department of Public and International Affairs, George Mason University, USA

Kelly McMann, Department of Political Science, Case Western Reserve University, USA

Dmitri Mitin, School of Public and International Affairs, North Carolina State University, USA

Viacheslav Morozov, Institute of Government and Politics, University of Tartu, Estonia

Susanna Nazarova, Russian and Eurasian Studies, Mount Holyoke College, USA

Andrew Nelson, Faculty of Social Science, Western University, Canada

Mitchell Orenstein, Department of Political Science, Northeastern University, USA

Robert W. Orttung, The George Washington University, USA

Andrea Orzoff, Department of History, New Mexico State University, USA

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

Olena Petrenko, Department of History, Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany

Serhii Plokhii, Department of History, Harvard University, USA

Alina Polyakova, Institute of Sociology, University of Bern, Switzerland

David Powelstock, Brandeis University, USA

Joanna Regulska, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, USA

Allan Reid, Department of Culture and Language Studies, University of New Brunswick, Canada

Tanya Richardson, Department of Global Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada

Walter Richmond, Department of German, Russian and Classical Studies, Occidental College, USA

James Richter, Politics, Bates College, USA

Nancy Ries, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Colgate University, USA

William Risch, Department of History, Georgia College, USA

Flora Roberts, Department of History, University of Chicago, USA

Sean R. Roberts, Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University, USA

Robert Romanchuk, Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics, Florida State University, USA

Stephen M. Saideman, Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University, Canada

Edward Schatz, Department of Political Science, University of Toronto, Canada

John Schoeberlein, Department of Anthropology, Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan

Steven Seegel, Department of History, University of Northern Colorado, USA

Oxana Shevel, Department of Political Science, Tufts University, USA

Olga Shevchenko, Department of Anthropology and Sociology, Williams College, USA

Irina Shevelenko, Department of Slavic Languages and Literature, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA

Liza Skryzhevska, Department of Geography, Miami University, USA

Valerie Sperling, Department of Political Science, Clark University, USA

Adam N. Stulberg, Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA

Benjamin Sutcliffe, Miami University, USA

Jane A. Taubman, Russian Department (emerita), Amherst College, USABrian Taylor, The Maxwell School, Syracuse University, USA

John P. Tiefenbacher, Department of Geography, Texas State University-San Marcos, USA

Joshua A. Tucker, Department of Political Science, New York University, USA

Anna Tumarkin, Department of Slavic Languages and Literature, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA

Judy Twigg, L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, Virginia Commonwealth University, USA

Mehmet Tütüncü, Research Centre for the Turkish and Arabic World, Netherlands

Andreas Umland, Department of Political Science, National University of “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy”

Julia Verkholantsev, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Pennsylvania, USA

Zenon Wasyliw, Department of History, Ithaca College, USA

Lucan Way, Department of Political Science, University of Toronto, Canada

Cory Welt, Elliot School of International Affairs, The George Washington University, USA

Nancy Wingfield, Department of History, Northern Illinois University, USA

Şuhnaz Yılmaz, International Relations, Koç University, TurkeyAyşe Zarakol, University of Cambridge, UK

Sufian Zhemukhov, Elliot School of International Affairs, The George Washington University, USA