In early 2022, Global Studies students heard a timely talk by Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova. Ms. Markarova addressed a local audience as part of the Indiana Council on World Affairs (ICWA) Distinguished Speaker Series. Over the years, GIS majors regularly attend the dinner and speaker events hosted by the ICWA, with which our program maintains an institutional membership and for which several GIS alumni have served as assistants to the director. Other recent ICWA speakers included Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the US, former American ambassadors to Colombia and Venezuela, and directors of various global NGOs. Ambassador Markarova is herself an alumni of Indiana University’s graduate program in Public Affairs. Speaking as Russia amassed troops on Ukraine’s border, Ms. Markarova spoke of her country’s past, its 1991 independence, and its current struggles to align itself with Western Europe. Three weeks later, Russia invaded her homeland.