The III Annual Tiger Conference

The Kyiv Post, Ukraine’s English-language newspaper, held the III Annual Tiger Conference devoted to "Ukraine: One Year after the EuroMaidan Revolution" on 19 November 2014 in Kiev.

A number of highly relevant issues were raised during the four discussion panels: the new security paradigm, information war, capturing new markets, scenarios for Ukraine - reform imperative. The experts agreed on the need for a far-reaching reform of Ukraine’s defense sector. Pavlo Klimkin, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine,  confirmed the need in undertaking a number of critical reforms, otherwise risking to lose political trust and financial support.  Macon Phillips, coordinator for the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of International Information Program,  recognizing the need for development of a comprehensive communication strategy, stressed that the most effective way to counter the information war in Ukraine is for Ukraine to succeed. Regarding the emerging opportunities for the country’s exports as a result of the DCFTA implementation, Jean-Jacque Herve, board member of Credit Agricole, noted that Ukraine has fantastic potential in agriculture, able to make a margin without any subsidy. Nicholas Burge, chief trade officer of the European Commission’s delegation to Ukraine, paid attention of the participants to a positive long-term perspective on the elimination of tariffs between Ukraine and the EU.

New security paradigm

Ukraine's fighters in the east deserve a lot of praise for their bravery fighting Russian military aggression.

But that's where the achievements of Ukraine's security sector end. A number of global security experts are confident that Ukraine urgently needs to address a whole array of issues, from designing a new security doctrine, to improving the values and morale of the army, to developing efficient ways to oppose aggression. “You are not prepared for war, you just have to look at the numbers. Russian come here, and you are finished,” said Joseph LaGasse, US security expert and former special advisor with U.S. White House, speaking at the security panel.

Lt. General Mark Hertling, former commanding general of U.S. Army in Europe, said Ukraine spends less than 1% of its GDP for national security, which the lowest figure in entire Europe. The speaker added that war is the best time for reforming the armed forces.

Igor Smeshko, head of Intelligence Committee under the President of Ukraine, said Ukraine now has to deal with Russia as an external enemy but it also has the “internal enemy” – corruption and lack of competence within security forces. Smeshko said Ukraine needs to reform its defense ministry and general staff, and the ideology of this reform has to be based on the current war experience.  There is also much to do in foreign policy, pointed out Minister for Foreign Affairs Pavlo Klimkin.  It is impossible to win with the same instruments the enemy uses masterfully. The entire world security system needs to be reformed, which became clear during the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.

Information war with Russia

What does the Russian propaganda war mean for Ukraine and the world? How do you fight it? Experts from the United States, Britain and Ukraine attempted to answer these and other questions at the Kyiv Post Tiger Conference. Macon Phillips shared the view that Russia pushes a lot of disinformation and we need to do more in terms of response. We need to actually protect the open system of media that is by far the best way to respond to these things. While the optimal way to respond to misinformation is with the truth. Dmytro Kuleba, ambassador-at-Large for Strategic Communications at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, paid attention that  Russian information aggression is a threat not only to Ukraine but to all democracies. … The only difference is that Ukraine is in the front line.

Ariel Cohen, director of the Center for Energy, Natural Resources and Geopolitics at the Institute for Analysis of Global Security, believes that Ukraine can make it as a European, free, Western-minded country. “To me Ukraine is now fighting its war for independence. This is where the United States was in 1776, where Israel was in 1948. This is creation of a nation. A part of it is an understanding that information is one of the battle fields, it’s an integral part of the strategy, of the war fighting,”- added Mr.Cohen. Timothy Ash, London-based head of emerging market research for Standard Bank, is sure that crises create opportunities, they force change. Ukraine is in desperate need of deep structural change. 

Overall, the conference gathered more than 300 participants and guests from Ukraine and abroad, among them diplomats, state authorities, business leaders, as well as economic and legal consultants, energy and military experts