Reflecting on Visiting Professor Volodymyr Dubovyk’s Course on Black Sea Regional Security

By Alex Avaneszadeh, MALD 2023 Candidate, The Fletcher School

Volodymyr Dubovyk, Visiting Professor at The Fletcher School and Associate Professor at Odesa Mechnikov National University in Ukraine, taught a module on Black Sea Regional Security during the second half of Fletcher’s Fall 2022 semester. The course focused on the geopolitics and security of the Black Sea, including the relevant state actors and the role of international organizations in the region. 

Regarding the course, Dubovyk said, “It was important to establish why the region is significant, what the role of security is, and how it impacts adjacent areas and spaces further away.”

“We identified the main threats and challenges for regional security, both hard and soft in nature. We looked at the main players in the region, including Turkey and Russia, as well as international organizations and actors such as the EU, NATO, and the U.S. Naturally, much of the regional security agenda is influenced by the ongoing Russian aggression in Ukraine, so the implications of this war were often scrutinized,” he continued.

Teaching assistant Zviad Adzinbaia added, “The class on Black Sea security at Fletcher was timely, relevant, and necessary for the students to comprehend Euro-Atlantic and global security holistically. Dubovyk brought a valuable first-hand account of Ukraine and the region in light of Russia’s ongoing illegal war and occupation in Ukraine.”

In addition to the course’s timeliness regarding the Russia-Ukraine war, students could learn from Dubovyk’s life and work experience in Ukraine. 

“Professor Dubovyk’s class was my favorite of the semester,” said Michael Rothenberger, a student. “The course covered contemporary issues in the Black Sea region and at the right time. I can say that I better understand the fragile political and social landscape of the region. I especially enjoyed Professor Dubovyk’s unique perspective on the war in Ukraine.”

Overall, both students and Dubovyk stressed the positive experience that they had in the classroom. “The class had some great, fruitful discussions. Students prepared reaction papers to readings for the class and wrote analytic memos addressing certain security problems of the region. In my view, the students performed really well and showed diligence, creativity, and maturity,” said Dubovyk.