'..Moscow has spent the past two decades returning to its authoritarian roots and reasserting its influence throughout the former Soviet empire. Today’s Russia may not be as powerful as the USSR once was, but it shares many of the same impulses to oppress all opposition and dominate its neighbors.''Ukraine declared independence in 1991, but the country is still fighting for the right to decide its own fate. Today’s war in eastern Ukraine, along with Russia’s wider hybrid war against the entire Western world, are the latest episodes in the unraveling of the Soviet empire. I was born in 1989 and am part of Ukraine’s independence generation. Since reaching adulthood, it has become clear to me that Ukraine failed to make a decisive break from the old empire. The political independence achieved in 1991 was only part of a broader process that should also have included the creation of a rules-based order and integration into the Euro-Atlantic world. The Baltic states accomplished these goals and are now prospering as EU and NATO member countries. Meanwhile, Ukraine continues to pay the price for its failure, with the country at war and large swathes of Ukrainian territory under Russian occupation.
Ukrainians never entirely reconciled themselves with the unfinished business of 1991. On the contrary, the revolutions of 2004 and 2014 were both driven by a desire to make up for the lost years of the post-Soviet period and embrace a recognizably European future as a liberal democracy. During the same period, Russia has moved in exactly the opposite direction. Following a brief flirtation with democracy in the 1990s, Moscow has spent the past two decades returning to its authoritarian roots and reasserting its influence throughout the former Soviet empire. Today’s Russia may not be as powerful as the USSR once was, but it shares many of the same impulses to oppress all opposition and dominate its neighbors.
..
While the world waits for democracy to dawn in Russia, the coronavirus crisis should make it easier to contain the Kremlin. In order to avoid the mistakes of the 1990s, it is vital that the international community acts to bolster Ukraine’s democratic progress and hold Russia accountable for its ongoing aggression. With the Kremlin coffers increasingly empty, now is the ideal time to increase the cost of Moscow’s war in eastern Ukraine and the Russian occupation of Crimea. The final act of the Soviet collapse could soon be upon us, and once again, Ukraine holds the key to the outcome.'
- Solomiia Bobrovska (
Source, 29 April 2020)
Context'..effective counter-intelligence services, proper oversight over the flow of funds and serious policing of corruption at home, media awareness for a new generation of citizens .. to increase the effectiveness .. of existing political structures.''Ukraine Cleared To Move Javelin Missiles To Front Lines..'(Ukraine)(UkraineInvest) - '..long-term institutional anti-corruption measures that have shone a light into the darker corners of the economy and created transparency.''Far too many American multinational corporations have kowtowed to the lure of China’s money and markets by muzzling not only criticism of the Chinese Communist Party, but even affirmative expressions of American values.' - Pence(The trampoline is working) - Elon Musk Invites Family Of Famed Soviet Rocket Scientist To Tour SpaceX