In his remarks at the UA Quest Roundtable V Patron Dinner in September 2004, Representative Curt Weldon suggested a regularly scheduled set of discussions that would track the progress of Ukraine’s professed “Euro-Atlantic” ambitions specifically in the realm of “security affairs” was needed.
He further suggested that the forums concentrate on two core tasks: (1) examining/evaluating Ukraine’s attempts to deepen “strategic” bilateral ties with the United States and (2) monitoring the pace of Ukraine’s NATO accession process. He promised to sponsor all such discussions and to provide the venues for the said gatherings on Capitol Hill.
CUSUR, newly formed at the time, and the American Foreign Policy Council, a long-time sponsoring organization of the UA Quest Series, took Rep. Weldon at his word and placed upon themselves the responsibility of setting in motion a “dialogue series” for senior-level representatives from each nation’s respective military establishments to exchange views on a wide range of defense-related issues.
The dialogues, planned as annual events, would be geared to review joint operations by US and Ukrainian armed forces from the Balkans to Iraq as well as examine other areas of bilateral “strategic” interest, including what Rep. Weldon fondly hoped would be US-Ukraine cooperation on Missile Defense. And, as envisioned by the good Congressman, the discussions would monitor the pace of Ukraine’s NATO accession process.
The US-Ukrainian Security Dialogue Series has now managed fourteen major events:
- US-UA Security Dialogue I
- US-UA Security Dialogue II
- US-Ukraine Security Dialogue III
- US-Ukraine Security Dialogue IV
- US-Ukraine Energy-Security Fusion Dialogue V
- US-Ukraine Security Dialogue VI
- US-Ukraine Security Dialogue VII
- US-UA Security Dialogue VIII
- US-UA Security Dialogue IX
- US-Ukraine Security Dialogue X
- US-Ukraine Security Dialogue XI
- US-Ukraine Energy-Security Fusion Dialogue XII
- US-Ukraine Security Dialogue XIII-XIV
- US-Ukraine Security Dialogue XV
- US-Ukraine Security Dialogue XVI
Speakers have included:
- US Representative Curt Weldon (Vice Chair/HR Homeland Security Committee)
- UA Ambassador to the US Oleh Shamshur
- Dr. Jennifer Moroney (RAND)
- Cooperative Threat Reduction Director James Reid (Dept. of Defense)
- Deputy Assistant Secretary of State David Kramer
- US Dept. of State Ukraine Political Officer Dr. Paul Carter
- Maj. Gen. Leonid Holopatyuk (UA MOD)
- General Designer Dmitry Kiva (Antonov Aerospace)
- Dr. Yuri Alekseyev (UA National Space Agency)
- Dr. Celeste Wallander (Georgetown University) (DOD DAS EEA 2008-2012)
- Deputy [& UA Astronaut] Leonid Kadenyuk (Rada National Security & Defense Committee)
- Principal Director for Eurasia Scott Schless (US Department of Defense)
- Maj. Gen. Serhiy Bezlushchenko (UA MOD)
- Ukraine Desk Officer CDR David Fisher (Joint Staff/J-5, U.S. Department of Defense)
- Amb. Steve Pifer (Center for Strategic and International Studies)
- Dr. Steven Larabbee (RAND)
- Amb. John Herbst (National Defense University)
- Atlantic Council Vice President Damon Wilson
- Former Head of the Security Service of Ukraine Valentyn Nalyvaichenko
- Dr. Lumomyr Luciuk (CA Royal Military Academy)
- Former Foreign Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Ohryzko
- Atlantic Council Senior Fellow & Fmr. DOD DAS for Europe Ian Brzezinski
- Senior Fellow James Sherr (Royal Institute of International Affairs/ Chatham House)
- Policy Analyst and Program Executive Amanda Paul (EPC-EU)
- Amb. Andrew Robinson (Carelton University)
- American Foreign Policy Council President Herman Pirchner
- First Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Leonid Polyakov
- Dr. Norman Bailey (Haifa University)
- Lt. Gen Ben Hodges (USAREUR 2014-2017
- Gen. Philip Breedlove (SACEUR 2015-2018)
- Gen. Wesley Clark (SACEUR 1997-2000)
- Potomac Foundation President Dr. Phillip Karber
- Dr. Stephen Blank Nat. War College Professor
- HF Allison Center Director Luke Coffey
- Jamestown Foundation President Glen Howard
- OSCE Amb. Michael Carpenter (DOD DAS for Europe in 2014-2016)
- US Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery
- CA Deputy MInister of Defence Jill Sinclair
- UA Adm. Ihor Kabanenko
- Head of the UAF Gen. Staff Gen. Viktor Muzhenko
- Deputy Min. of Defense of Ukraine Volodymyr Havrylov
- Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-PA)
- Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA)
- Rep. Brian Higgins (D-NY)
- Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)
- Dr. TX Hammes (National Defense University)
- Reuben Johnson (Senior Correspondent/Breaking Defense)
Major Western security and security related concerns or think thanks that have participated in the stated gatherings include: Pivdenmash, Antonov, MotorSich, Kyiv Polytechnical Institute, Ukroboronservice, Ukrainian Defense Consulting LtD, Raytheon, NATO Documentation Centre/UA, Digital Alliance, RAND Corporation, Harvard University’s “Managing the Atom” Program, Civil-Military Innovation Institute
