Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William B. Taylor will offer insights on the latest developments in the country at an event sponsored by the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy’s Institute of Politics and Global Affairs (IOPGA).

“The Crisis in Ukraine” is a virtual event on Tuesday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. It is open to the Cornell community and all who pre-register.

Former Congressman Steve Israel, director of the IOPGA, will moderate the discussion along with Nicholas Rostow, senior research scholar at Yale Law School and a visiting professor teaching international law at Cornell Law School. Rostow is senior partner with the firm of Zumpano, Patricios and Popok in New York City.

Taylor offers a unique perspective on the Ukraine-Russia situation. Currently, he serves as vice president at the U.S. Institute of Peace with a focus on Russia and Europe. In 2019, he served as chargéd’affaires at the U.S. embassy in Kyiv. He served as the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine from 2006 to 2009.

Taylor is also deeply experienced in Mideast diplomacy. He oversaw U.S. assistance and support to Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and Syria during the Arab Spring. He is a graduate of West Point and Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and he served as an infantry platoon leader and combat company commander in the U.S. Army in Vietnam and Germany.

Rostow also has broad expertise in European conflict and diplomacy. He served as university professor at the National Defense University, specializing in international and national security law and affairs and U.S. government and international decision-making in foreign and national security policy.

The event is organized in cooperation with the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies at Cornell and is the first in a planned series.

Jim Hanchett is assistant dean of communications for the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy.