Ukraine

---

• (October 1999) Ukrainia's end of the tunnell. Ukraine is Russia without the excesses: one man has ruled the transition from communism to capitalism, Leonid Kuchma, but without all the drama and intrigue; the transition has resulted in a widespread economic crisis but there was no Russian-style financial crash; corruption is rampant but has not reached mafia-levels of violence; a province (the ethnically Russian east) is uneasy under the central control but with none of Chechnya's desire for revolutionary bands.
  In november's elections, Kuchma is everybody's favorite: Russians like him because he is a moderate nationalist who recognizes Russian interests (and allows Russia to exert its influence virtually at will), the West likes him because he means stability in a region full of time bombs. His main opponent is the head of the communist party, Petro Symonenko, who advocates the restoration of the old Soviet Union or at least a federation with Russia and Belarus. Given Russia's troubles, even ethnic Russians are unlikely to be excited about returning under Moscow's rules.
  (February 2001 update: the mysterious death of a journalist tarnished Kuchma's reputation and started mass demonstrations for his resignations).

  See also:
  Nations in Crisis: Russia
  The Collapse of Russia and the Rise of Putin (inside my review of the book "Putin's Kleptocracy")
  Tomothy Snyder's "The Road to Unfreedom" (2018)

  TM, ®, Copyright © 2005 Piero Scaruffi All rights reserved.
  Back to the world news | Top of this page