The Moulding of Ukraine

The Moulding of Ukraine
Author: Kataryna Wolczuk
Publisher: Central European University Press
Total Pages: 344
Release: 2001-01-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9789639241251

With the disintegration of the Soviet Union, a number of new states were created that had little or no claim to any previous existence. Ukraine is one of the countries that faced not only political, social and economic transformation, but also state formation and the redefinition of national identity. This book uses Ukraine as a case study in trying to trace the key moments of decision making in the course of creating a new state while shedding the legacies of "Soviet-type" statehood. The Moulding of Ukraine offers a systematic examination of competing ideological visions of statehood and discusses them against the backdrop of historical traditions in Ukraine. This well-documented and lucidly written book is the only coherent account available in English of the process of constitutional reform, offering an insight into post-Soviet Ukrainian politics. A useful addition to university course reading lists in Ukrainian studies, post-Soviet studies, post-communist democratization, comparative constitutionalism, state-building and institutional design.

The Moulding of Ukraine

The Moulding of Ukraine
Author: Kataryna Wolczuk
Publisher: Central European University Press
Total Pages: 339
Release: 2001-12-01
Genre: Law
ISBN: 6155211647

With the disintegration of the Soviet Union, a number of new states were created that had little or no claim to any previous existence. Ukraine is one of the countries that faced not only political, social and economic transformation, but also state formation and the redefinition of national identity. This book uses Ukraine as a case study in trying to trace the key moments of decision making in the course of creating a new state while shedding the legacies of "Soviet-type" statehood.The Moulding of Ukraine offers a systematic examination of competing ideological visions of statehood and discusses them against the backdrop of historical traditions in Ukraine. This well-documented and lucidly written book is the only coherent account available in English of the process of constitutional reform, offering an insight into post-Soviet Ukrainian politics. A useful addition to university course reading lists in Ukrainian studies, post-Soviet studies, post-communist democratization, comparative constitutionalism, state-building and institutional design.

Understanding Ukrainian Politics: Power, Politics, and Institutional Design

Understanding Ukrainian Politics: Power, Politics, and Institutional Design
Author: Paul D'Anieri
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 307
Release: 2015-01-28
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1317452984

Ukraine made headlines around the world during the winter of 2004-05 as the colorful banners of the Orange Revolution unfurled against the snowy backdrop of Kyiv, signaling the bright promise of democratic rebirth. But is that what is really happening in Ukraine? In the early post-Soviet period, Ukraine appeared to be firmly on the path to democracy. The peaceful transfer of power from Leonid Kravchuk to Leonid Kuchma in the election of 1994, followed by the adoption of a western-style democratic constitution in 1996, seemed to complete the picture. But the Kuchma presidency was soon clouded by dark rumors of corruption and even political murder, and by 2004 the country was in full-blown political crisis. A three-stage presidential contest was ultimately won by Viktor Yushchenko, who took office in 2005 and appointed Yulia Tymoshenko as premier, but the turmoil was far from over. The new government quickly faltered and splintered. This introduction to Ukrainian politics looks beyond these dramatic events and compelling personalities to identify the actual play of power in Ukraine and the operation of its political system. The author seeks to explain how it is that, after each new beginning, power politics has trumped democratic institution-building in Ukraine, as in so many other post-Soviet states. What is really at work here, and how can Ukraine break the cycle of hope and disillusionment?

Ukraine?Crimea?Russia

Ukraine?Crimea?Russia
Author: Taras Kuzio
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 259
Release: 2007-03-13
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 3838257618

The Crimea was the only region of Ukraine in the 1990s where separatism arose and inter-ethnic conflict potentially could have taken place between the Ukrainian central government, ethnic Russians in the Crimea, and Crimean Tatars. Such a conflict would have inevitably drawn in Russia and Turkey. Russia had large numbers of troops in the Crimea within the former Soviet Black Sea Fleet. Ukraine also was a nuclear military power until 1996. This book analyses two inter-related issues. Firstly, it answers the question why Ukraine-Crimea-Russia traditionally have been a triangle of conflict over a region that Ukraine, Tatars and Russia have historically claimed. Secondly, it explains why inter-ethnic violence was averted in Ukraine despite Crimea possessing many of the ingredients that existed for Ukraine to follow in the footsteps of inter-ethnic strife in its former Soviet neighbourhood in Moldova (Trans-Dniestr), Azerbaijan (Nagorno Karabakh), Georgia (Abkhazia, South Ossetia), and Russia (Chechnya).

Crimea, Global Rivalry, and the Vengeance of History

Crimea, Global Rivalry, and the Vengeance of History
Author: Hall Gardner
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 250
Release: 2016-04-30
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1137528176

Gardner examines the causes and consequences of Russia's annexation of Crimea. By analyzing alliance formations and the consequences of other annexations in world history, the book urges an alternative US-NATO-European-Japanese strategy toward both Russia and China in the effort to prevent a renewed arms race, if not global war.

The Intermarium as the Polish-Ukrainian Linchpin of Baltic-Black Sea Cooperation

The Intermarium as the Polish-Ukrainian Linchpin of Baltic-Black Sea Cooperation
Author: Ostap Kushnir
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Total Pages: 222
Release: 2019-03-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 152753054X

The term “Intermarium” has a long historical tradition and was commonly used to define the area between the Baltic and Black Seas. With its regular re-appearances in contemporary academic and political discourses, this book explores and assesses a variety of its connotations. In order to do this, it applies a multi-dimensional approach to the Intermarium. Six researchers specializing in Central and Eastern European history, geopolitics, security, economics, and cultural studies are brought together here to share their expert knowledge. As a result, the book discusses various, unique aspects of the Intermarium. At the very end, a conclusion is drawn as to whether the cognominal framework possesses any feasible potential for emergence and development in the contemporary international architecture.

Federalism beyond Federations

Federalism beyond Federations
Author: Ferran Requejo
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 298
Release: 2016-04-15
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1317136128

Since the end of the Second World War, a set of democratic European countries have established a decentralized system of government based on federal or regional patterns. Some of these systems initially displayed an asymmetrical trend, however, some democracies have implemented a subsequent process of re-symmetrization that changes the structure and the legitimization of the previous political agreements. Charting the evolution of decentralization processes and asymmetries implemented in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Ukraine and the United Kingdom, leading international scholars illustrate which countries have evolved more symmetrically, why this is so and what the role of political actors in these processes have been. In doing so, each case study: - Examines the causes of the legal and constitutional asymmetries and the main political cleavages. - Analyses the main institutions, actors and factors that influence the political dynamics of the territorial debate. - Questions whether there is such a process of re-symmetrization - Presents the main actors in favour of the process of re-symmetrization and of maintaining the constitutional and legal asymmetries Written accessibly and contributing to key debates on federalism and asymmetry, Federalism beyond Federations appeals to academics, politicians, decision-makers and all those interested in the political problems facing modern democracies.

The Road to Ukraine

The Road to Ukraine
Author: Frank Furedi
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Total Pages: 114
Release: 2022-08-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 3110981548

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is the latest chapter in a series of events that have their origins in World War One. The difficult existential questions that emerged before and during this conflict still remain unresolved. Contrary to the claim that wars are not supposed to happen in Europe or that we live in the era of the End of History, the experience of Ukraine highlights the salience of the spell of the past. The failure of the West to take its past seriously has left it confused and unprepared to deal with the current crisis. Unexpectedly fashionable claims about the irrelevance of borders and of nation states have been exposed as shallow myths. The author argues that the West’s self-inflicted condition of historical amnesia has encouraged it to disregard the salience of geo-political realities. Suddenly the once fashionable claims that made up the virtues of globalisation appear threadbare. This problem, which was already evident during the global Covid pandemic has reached a crisis point in the battlefield of Ukraine. History has had its revenge on a culture that believes that what happened in the past no longer matters. The Road To Ukraine: How the West Lost Its Way argues that overcoming the state of historical amnesia is the precondition for the restoration of global solidarity.

Ukraine Over the Edge

Ukraine Over the Edge
Author: Gordon M. Hahn
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 368
Release: 2018-01-14
Genre: History
ISBN: 1476628750

The Ukrainian crisis that dominated headlines in fall 2013 was decades in the making. Two great schisms shaped events: one within Ukraine, its western and southeastern parts divided along cultural and political lines; the other was driven by geopolitical factors. Competition between Russia and the West exacerbated Ukraine's divisions. This study focuses on the historical background and complex causality of the crisis, from the rise of mass demonstrations on Kiev's Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) to the making of the post-revolt regime. In the context of a "new cold war," the author sheds light on the role of radical Ukrainian nationalists and neofascists in the February 2014 snipers' massacre, the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych, and Russia's seizure of Crimea and involvement in the civil war in the eastern region of Donbass.

State Building in Ukraine

State Building in Ukraine
Author: Sarah Whitmore
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 237
Release: 2004-06-02
Genre: History
ISBN: 1134321481

This book examines the development of the Ukrainian parliament - the Verkhovna Rada - from before Ukraine's independence in 1991 to the present. It shows how the parliament transformed itself from a provincial republican Soviet to the national legislature of a sovereign state and from a nominal, symbolic body to a genuine legislative and representative institution. It discusses the key role of parliament in the wider state-building process and examines the evolution of political factions and the committee system in the parliament.