Human Security Lab Research Featured in Foreign Policy Magazine

Human Security Lab has published a major article on Ukraine in Foreign Policy Magazine, arguing that Zelensky’s travel ban on civilian men undermines the war effort and should be relaxed. According to the article:

Ukraine has received strong sympathy and support from the U.S. government, the American public, and many Western nations, but policies that violate international human rights law, especially those without popular support from the Ukrainian people, may harm Ukraine’s international reputation without providing much strategic benefit. Modifications to the travel ban would also better align with European Union and NATO views on human rights and gender equality, which could bolster Ukraine’s bid for membership.

The article, to which the entire Human Security Lab Ukraine team contributed, draws on an original survey conducted by Human Security Lab this year with support from the Cole Endowment for Faculty Excellence and the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences as University of Massachusetts. In collaboration with global consulting firm RIWI, the Lab collected over 3,000 survey responses from Ukrainian citizens about the impact of the travel ban on civilian society.

A team of seven graduate and undergraduate student research assistants - DACSS student Kristina Becvar, and Political Science and Legal Studies Majors Hunter Fairchild, Camryn Hughes, Astrid Paz, Liam Harney, Makara Le and Nicholas McCurrach - worked with Lab Director Professor Charli Carpenter over the summer to analyze the survey comments, including hundreds of open-ended answers by Ukrainians in their own voices. The results were also discussed and presented this fall at a webinar produced by the Lab, and the lab has also presented policy memos to the State Department, human rights and humanitarian community on the matter. The Lab plans to publish a briefing note building on its research in Spring 2023.