Section: Atlantic Council (USA)
Ukraine Needs to Abandon its Soviet Thinking Once and for All
Ukraine’s reform efforts continue to sputter on without any transformative results more than two years after former President Viktor Yanukovych fled to Moscow. The economy’s basic problems have not yet been addressed. It is still bogged down in its Soviet past, with populist forces making illusory promises that appeal to many...
How Ukraine Can Win the Information War in a Fact Free World
What media outlets do you trust? From the Brexit referendum and the US presidential race to Russia’s information war on Ukraine, it is becoming increasingly clear that we now live in a fact-free world where emotions reign supreme and truth is in the eye of the beholder.This trend first became apparent around the time of the 2003 Iraq war....
New Generation of Digital Detectives Fight to Keep Russia Honest
Almost two years ago on July 17, 2014, a Buk missile downed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in eastern Ukraine, killing 298 passengers and their crew. The Russian government pushed evidence implying that a Ukrainian plane had shot down MH17, while the Dutch Safety Board concluded that a Buk missile caused the plane to break up and crash. My...
Has Ukraine Really Changed?
On Sunday, July 17, voters in seven electoral districts in Ukraine will head to the polls to select their representatives for the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament. This special election is set to fill vacancies, some due to ministerial appointments and elections to other offices, and in one case due to the death of an incumbent. The...
Ukraine’s Art Arsenal: Where Culture and Politics Crossed Swords
During his July 7 visit to Kyiv, US Secretary of State John Kerry announced that the United States will pour an additional $23 million in aid into Ukraine. Radiating sincerity, President Petro Poroshenko said this decision was a “vivid reflection of a deep trust that the United States has for Ukraine” as well as Ukraine’s “commitment to...
Euromaidan Leaders Launch New Party in Ukraine. Can It Succeed?
As Europe lurches in the direction of populism, xenophobic anti-immigrant attitudes, and anti-EU posturing, Ukraine appears to be tilting the other way. Located largely outside European discourse for the last twenty-five years, Ukraine is now odd man out, with pro-EU sentiments running high, xenophobic attitudes largely absent, and not one but...
No Longer a Secret: Ukraine is Europe’s New Frontier Market
American and European Investors Quietly Descend on Kyiv Chestnut trees shade the streets, restaurants colonize sidewalks with what are deemed “summer verandas,” and hemlines have risen with the temperatures.Yes, it is summer again in Kyiv.But this summer, this garden city is seeing a new, discreetly invasive species: American and European...
An Army of Storytellers
Public diplomacy has long been a positive tool of the United States and its partners, yet we are still losing in the battle happening online. At the Atlantic Council’s NATO Future Leaders Summit in Warsaw on July 7, three unique storytellers spoke about their experiences and efforts to bridge this online gap. Maxim Eristavi, a Ukrainian...
How Ukraine Can Better Treat the Invisible Wounds of War
Treating the “invisible wounds of war,” or psychological trauma, has become an important issue for international organizations in conflict zones. Ukraine is no exception. But the country is still learning how to best address this pressing mental health problem among combat veterans, internally displaced persons, and other vulnerable...
Texan Makes Fortune in Ukraine’s Tech Sector
“If you play by the rules, you can do business in Ukraine.” Jason Mitura is an all-American guy who grew up in Dallas, Texas, but made his first fortune in Ukraine.His success is all the more noteworthy given that he speaks little Ukrainian. On a tip, he flew to Kyiv for the first time in 2008 and found a huge opportunity.Over four years, he and...
