Section: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (USA)
1917: The Empire’s Diverging Revolutions
We have long acknowledged and taught that 1917 was not one but many revolutions, including parallel, sometimes overlapping, but often conflicting movements of soldiers, workers, peasants, white-collar workers, and other intelligentsia and social groups. But all these revolutions were refracted through national, imperial, and colonial prisms, so...
Naftogaz, Ukraine’s Biggest Taxpayer, Faces Uncertain Future
On September 19, two members of the independent supervisory board of the state-owned Ukrainian energy giant Naftogaz made a statement in which they announced their intent to resign. …read more Source: Woodrow Wilson International Center for...
After Ukraine’s Leap to Freedom: Hope Tethered
Today’s post-Soviet Europe is a region characterized by unpredictable, fragile, and disruptive development. Expectations of democracy and well-being in independent Ukraine, Georgia, Russia, and Belarus have not been realized in the twenty-six years since the dissolution of the USSR. On the contrary, these states have been subjected to...
The Language Issue in Ukraine, Again
On September 25, 2017, the Ukrainian president signed off on the Law on Education, which had been approved by the parliament twenty days before. This law, which had long been anticipated as a means of launching educational reform and somewhat prematurely praised by the U.S. …read more Source: Woodrow Wilson International Center for...
U.S. Coal for Ukraine: Vital Necessity or Political Benefits Seeking?
In June 2017, Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko visited the United States and met U.S. president Donald Trump. After that meeting President Poroshenko announced that Ukraine would be importing anthracite from the United States. On September 13 the first shipment was delivered to Ukraine. After the start of the military conflict in Donbas in...
Ukraine’s Financial Future: Between Default and Prosperity
In the next five years, Ukraine’s aggregate payments for external liabilities will amount to more than $40 billion. However, the net reserves of the National Bank of Ukraine stand at $5 billion. On the basis of such a ratio, the risk of Ukraine defaulting on its debt is high. Can Ukraine overcome this risk? My response to the above question...
Why Energy Reform in Ukraine Matters for European Regional Security
Russia is developing new ways of delivering gas to EU. These new pipelines will decrease the importance of the Ukrainian route, resulting in a long list of losses for the country. Ukraine’s government wants to retain the country’s status as a gas transit country. However, Russia’s cooperation will be needed to continue to move...
Ukrainian-Polish Relations in the Context of the Memory War: A Game of Lose-Lose
Relations between Ukraine and Poland today are cooling, disturbingly. The growing differences between the two neighbors do not add to the stability of the region. …read more Source: Woodrow Wilson International Center for...
Futile Effort, New Maidan, or Neither? October Protests in Kyiv
A new political season has opened. This fact was made abundantly clear to Kyiv residents on October 18, as the police patrol had increased its presence downtown. The reason? Mass protests that started a day earlier near the Ukrainian parliament building. …read more Source: Woodrow Wilson International Center for...
Kennan Cable No. 27: Political Rivalry and Garbage Politics in Ukraine
For more than a year, Lviv, the biggest city in Western Ukraine (Population: 800,000), experienced a massive problem with garbage removal. In late May 2016, the city’s only landfill caught fire and four firefighters perished fighting the blaze. As terrible as the fire was, another unpleasant consequence soon arose: the city found itself...
