One of Europe's old nations steeped in history, Ukraine is today an
undisputed independent state. It is a democracy and has transformed
into a market economy with predominant private ownership. Ukraine's
postcommunist transition has been one of the most protracted and
socially costly, but it has taken the country to a desirable
destination.Aslund's vivid account of Ukraine's journey begins with
a brief background, where he discusses the implications of
Ukraine's history, the awakening of society because of Mikhail
Gorbachev's reforms, the early democratization, and the impact of
the ill-fated Soviet economic reforms. He then turns to the reign
of President Leonid Kravchuk from 1991 to 1994, the only salient
achievement of which was nation-building, while the economy
collapsed in the midst of hyperinflation. The first two years of
Leonid Kuchma's presidency, from 1994 to 1996, were characterized
by substantial achievements, notably financial stabilization and
mass privatization. The period 1996-99 was a miserable period of
policy stagnation, rent seeking, and continued economic decline. In
2000 hope returned to Ukraine. Viktor Yushchenko became prime
minister and launched vigorous reforms to cleanse the economy from
corruption, and economic growth returned. The ensuing period,
2001-04, amounted to a competitive oligarchy. It was quite
pluralist, although repression increased. Economic growth was high.
The year 2004 witnessed the most joyful period in Ukraine, the
Orange Revolution, which represented Ukraine's democratic
breakthrough, with Yushchenko as its hero. The postrevolution
period, however, has been characterized by great domestic political
instability; a renewed, explicit Russian threat to Ukraine's
sovereignty; and a severe financial crisis. The answers to these
challenges lie in how soon the European Union fully recognizes
Ukraine's long-expressed identity as a European state, how swiftly
Ukraine improves its malfunctioning constitutional order, and how
promptly it addresses corruption.
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