Ukraine

Wartime optimism

Dr. Viva Ona Bartkus / 2026.03.24

At 9:00 AM, everything stopped. Each loitering cadet and scurrying academic stood at attention. At 9:01 AM, each person continued to build, protect, and engage their neighbors. This was not the scene I had imagined when Archbishop Borys Gudziak and I took a walk together around the lakes of the University of Notre Dame.

Op Eds

A better way to nation build in Ukraine

Dr. Viva Ona Bartkus / 2024.07.28

Standard approach to nation building over the last two decades: Take a war-torn country. Shovel in trillions of dollars. Send in Soldiers. Stir. Hope for the best. Petty princes and oligarchs love it. Economists and local communities do not. It is time for a better approach to nation building.