Prominent Columbia University scholar Motyl says Ukrainians must educate world on essense of Russia’s war

Ukrainian academics must inform the world about the relationship between Russia and Ukraine, as well as the nature of Russia’s genocidal war, said Alexander Motyl, professor of political science and history at Columbia University, writer, and artist, in an interview with LB.ua.

“Ukraine needs to raise awareness about certain issues, and I have been working on this for the past two and a half years,” he told the Kyiv-based online news publication.

Motyl is sure that the world already knows that Ukraine exists, but it must also understand that a genocidal war is underway. 

“We need to talk about the Russia-Ukraine relationship and the war itself,” he said.

Looking at the broader context of the war and the interactions between Ukraine and Russia, Motyl believes it’s clear that Ukraine is, in fact, winning.

“I reject propaganda. I’m an optimist, but not an extreme one, and I strive to base this optimism on facts. I write about the reasons that lead to an optimistic outlook. It seems that Ukraine truly needs this,” he said.

The historian adds that there is already a significant amount of scholarly work about Ukraine worldwide. 

“At the Peterson Literary Fund in Toronto, where I serve on the jury, we recently completed discussions on 20 English-language candidates. All the books about Ukraine are of a high standard, and more than half were written by non-Ukrainians, including Americans and Britons,” he said.

Since the full-blown war started in 2022, Motyl has written about 320 columns, which sometimes cover similar themes, as there are generally 5-10 key topics.

“People need to be reminded about the ongoing challenges and circumstances. The war is still ongoing, and conditions are constantly changing – there’s always a new angle for analysis,” he said.

Motyl, a prominent Ukrainian scholar, has earned a strong reputation within the Ukrainian diaspora for his years of dedicated work in support of Ukraine. This year, he served as a juror for the Zustrich (Meeting) Ukrainian-Jewish literary award, which focuses on the shared historical experiences and dialogue between the two peoples.

Read the full interview here.