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Ukraine Expands Trade Routes, Bypasses Russia
Ukraine is taking two important steps toward expanding its ties with the global economy.The Beskyd-Skotarske train tunnel in the Carpathians is being widened from one track to two, thanks to funding...
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At Last, Military Reform Makes Headway in Ukraine
When a close observer and frequent critic of Ukraine’s military establishment has something good to say about it, we may want to listen.Yuri Butusov, military analyst and editor of the censor.net...
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Stalin’s Partisans in Ukraine
Alexander Gogun’s excellent study, Stalin’s Commandos: Ukrainian Partisan Forces on the Eastern Front, sometimes reads like an analysis of Putin’s commandos in the eastern Donbas. In both cases, the...
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Signs of Hope for Judicial Reform in Ukraine
Post-communist Ukraine has long struggled to reform its judicial system and rid itself of pervasive and systematic petty and serious corruption—one of the many poisonous legacies experienced by all...
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Why Reintegrating the Donbas Is Suicide for Ukraine
If you’re wondering why the Minsk peace process isn’t leading to peace, look no further than a recent interview with Vladislav Inozemtsev, a highly respected Russian economist and director of the...
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Managing Kyiv's Government Crisis
For those who are puzzled by current goings-on in Ukraine’s government, here are a few tips.First, let’s not confuse “crisis of government” with “crisis of Ukraine.” True, Prime Minister Arsenii...
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Decentralizing Government Power is Key to Reforming Ukraine
It’s not surprising that Kyiv’s convoluted politics color what we think about Ukraine and its future prospects. But don’t let the turmoil in Kyiv obscure the hopeful developments taking place in...
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Putin’s Syria Gambit
All the hullaballoo provoked by Vladimir Putin’s surprise announcement of a Russian troop withdrawal from Syria misses two important points.First, given that even Putin’s inner circle in the Kremlin...
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Time for Ukraine to Take the Initiative
Vladimir Putin’s maneuverings with the West and Ukraine are often compared to a game of chess. The comparison is spot on, with one qualification. Contrary to the image of grandmaster he prefers, the...
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Ukrainian Identity After the Euromaidan
The following is an interview with the Ukrainian intellectual, analyst, and critic, Mykola Riabchuk.MOTYL: You’ve stated that independent Ukraine has never had a government as good as the one it has...
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Is Ukraine's Economic Potential Its Destiny?
The following is an interview with Ukraine investor, Ian Hague. MOTYL: As a Founding Partner of Firebird Management LLC, a fund management company focusing on the capital markets of the former Soviet...
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The Dutch, Kyiv, and Reform
The Dutch referendum is not the end of the world for Ukraine. As one smart and sober Ukrainian analyst points out, it actually changes very little in Ukraine’s relationship with the European Union. In...
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Ukraine: A Bridge Linking the West and Russia?
MOTYL: Dr. Jiri Valenta, you’ve had extensive experience dealing with the Russians during and after the Prague Spring and wrote a seminal work on its tragic denouement, Soviet Intervention in...
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Ukraine’s New Cabinet
How should we evaluate Ukraine’s just-completed process of forming a new coalition and cabinet?For starters, coalitions and cabinets are routinely changed in democracies. Devious presidents, devious...
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Putin Celebrates Unrepentant Fascist Zhirinovsky
This time, Vladimir Putin has out-Putined himself.On April 18, Russia’s erratic, though consistently anti-democratic, leader awarded the Russian Federation’s prestigious “For Service to the Fatherland...
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Kyiv’s New Leadership and Ukraine's Economic Prospects
MOTYL: Mr. Monyak, as Executive Vice President for Eurasia at WorldBusiness Capital, how would you assess existing investment opportunities in Ukraine?MONYAK: As an emerging market lender, I look for...
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Dying for the Donbas?
Just about every day, soldiers die. Sometimes, it’s as many as three or four. Sometimes, it’s two or three. Usually, it’s only one.Only one young life snuffed out—for what?For the Russian-occupied...
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Answering the Critics: Donbas Disengagement
What should Ukraine do about the occupied Donbas enclave?As readers of this blog know, I have long been arguing for disengagement. Critics of my view generally emphasize some or all of the following...
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A Donbas Strategy Going Forward
The following is an interview with George Woloshyn. George Woloshyn is a frequent commentator on Ukrainian affairs. He was the head of the National Preparedness Directorate at the Federal Emergency...
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Ukraine's United Future Depends on Leaving Donbas in Its Divided Past
Before Ukraine can disengage from the occupied Donbas, it has to know just what disengagement means. Consider disengagement's opposite—engagement. If we are engaged, we are psychologically concerned...
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