{"id":41322,"date":"2022-04-06T04:55:16","date_gmt":"2022-04-06T10:55:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/u-s-embassy-worker-talks-about-ukraine-at-durango-rotary-club-meeting\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:00:33","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:00:33","slug":"u-s-embassy-worker-talks-about-ukraine-at-durango-rotary-club-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/u-s-embassy-worker-talks-about-ukraine-at-durango-rotary-club-meeting\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Embassy worker talks about Ukraine at Durango Rotary Club meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Ryan
Ryan McGee, center, who worked at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine, for the last three years, presented a data- and history-driven presentation to the Rotary Club of Durango at the Strater Hotel on Tuesday evening. (Christian Burney\/Durango Herald)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Durango resident Ryan McGee, who worked at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv for the last three years, says the war between Ukraine and Russia is about democracy versus authoritarianism.<\/p>\n

He gave a presentation Tuesday to the Durango Evening Rotary Club about Ukrainian history, its people and the culture.<\/p>\n

McGee said he was not allowed to describe the work he did or the organizations he worked for while working from the U.S. Embassy. But he said that global economies, including the United States\u2019, Ukraine\u2019s and Russia\u2019s, are so interconnected today that the war unfolding doesn\u2019t resemble what a war fought in Ukraine 30 years ago would have looked like.<\/p>\n

For example, Ukraine\u2019s largest industries are agriculture (wheat), manufacturing (PVC pipes) and information technology, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt does impact Americans directly. Especially American values \u2013 standing for democracy, standing for a free press, all of these things are important to what America is today, those are what (is at stake in Ukraine), that is what this war is about,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a war between representative democracy and an authoritarian, totalitarian (state).\u201d<\/p>\n

\"An
An ethno-linguistic map of Ukraine shows the most common languages across the country. The map was presented Tuesday by Ryan McGee, who worked for the last three years from the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine\u2019s capital. (Christian Burney\/Durango Herald)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

McGee said working in Ukraine was a refreshing experience. He has worked in various countries throughout his career, but he has made some of the most \u201camazing\u201d friends of anywhere he\u2019s visited.<\/p>\n

He said the Ukrainian government\u2019s willingness to improve for the benefit of its citizens amazed him and is refreshing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve worked in a lot of countries, not all of which had their citizens in mind at all times,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd we can even see this in the United States in many places, right? But the Ukrainian government seems truly dedicated to improving democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said freedom of the press and freedom of speech are stronger in Ukraine than many other Eastern European countries. Since 2014, Ukrainians can protest without a permit and write criticisms of the government without fear of retribution.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s the big thing about Ukraine,\u201d he said. \u201c\u2026 Whether you\u2019re talking access to critical medical services for marginalized populations. Whether you\u2019re talking about properly paying pension payments to retired people.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said it is sad to see the war unfold but he believes Ukrainians will rebuild their country, with international assistance.<\/p>\n

He said it is important for Americans to understand the cultural underpinnings in any geopolitical situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are the drivers?\u201d he said. \u201cI think that\u2019s what\u2019s left out a lot in the U.S., is understanding the (context of) the region, not just from the Ukrainian side, but from the Russian side.\u201d<\/p>\n

cburney@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Durango man shares thoughts on war<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41323,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,4336,265,1147],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-41322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-international-relations","tag-politics","tag-war"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41322"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41322\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84926,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41322\/revisions\/84926"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41322"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=41322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}