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As the world watches the Russian invasion of Ukraine unfold, UkraineAlert delivers the best Atlantic Council expert insight and analysis on Ukraine twice a week directly to your inbox.


editor’s picks

Latest analysis


UkraineAlert

Oct 5, 2015

Testing Putin’s Intentions

By
John E. Herbst

The October 2 Paris Summit with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President François Hollande, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, and Russian President Vladimir Putin produced no breakthrough for peace in Ukraine. But it provided additional proof that, for the moment, Putin wants to lower tensions in the region. The parties spoke about three issues: the withdrawal […]


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Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Oct 5, 2015

How to Fight Corruption in Ukraine

By
Anders Åslund

We all agree: The greatest threat facing Ukraine, after its war with Russia, is corruption. But few agree how to do so, though it should not be that difficult. In 1998, Ukraine’s main gas importer, Ihor Bakai, stated that “all rich people in Ukraine made their money on Russian gas.” The technique was simple. A […]


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Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Sep 30, 2015

Radars for Ukraine: Obama’s Strong Signal to Putin

By
Adrian Karatnycky

A day after US President Barack Obama met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the United States announced that it will ship long-range counter-battery radars to Ukraine. Obama authorized $20 million to provide the country with radars, bringing US security assistance to Ukraine up to $265 million. Obama’s message is clear: the United States will not […]


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UkraineAlert

Sep 29, 2015

Ukraine Must Embrace Radical Reform Now

By
Melinda Haring

If the Ukrainian government does not follow through with an ambitious reform agenda, public support will wane while dissatisfaction will increase, threatening political stability and the country’s future. “There is no time for slow evolutionary changes. Radical and revolutionary reforms are the only way to success,” warns a new report issued September 28.


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UkraineAlert

Sep 29, 2015

Halfway There on National Unity in Ukraine

By
Colin Cleary

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has lost the battle for the hearts and minds of the predominantly Russian-speaking regions of eastern and southern Ukraine that remain under Kyiv’s control. Support for those he calls “compatriots” has been at the core of Putin’s stated rationale for intervention in Ukraine. Polls show, however, that a clear majority of […]


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Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Sep 29, 2015

Will Assad Rescue Putin from the Ukrainian Quagmire?

By
Aaron Korewa

For fifteen years, Gleb Pavlovsky worked as an adviser to Russian Presidents Boris Yeltsin, Vladimir Putin, and the one-term Dmitry Medvedev. He was one of the chief architects behind the “power vertical” concept— the need for a strong leader in order to create stability. Freedom and democracy were supposed to “come later.” Unfortunately for Pavlovsky, […]


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Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Sep 29, 2015

Ukraine’s Leaders Must Engage Disillusioned Citizens Now

By
Joanna Rohozinska

In many respects, Ukraine is unrecognizable from the place it was a mere two years ago. Civic engagement has clearly increased, as seen by the remarkable mobilization of volunteers, flourishing of local civic groups, and generous donations for a variety of causes. A sense of vitality and energy pervades the country—unlike a few years ago, […]


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Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Sep 28, 2015

A Gift to Putin

By
John E. Herbst

An odd thing happened on President Barack Obama’s way to New York for meetings at the UN with world leaders. He forgot to schedule a session with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. Of course, New York City is flooded with world leaders at this time of year, and Obama does not have time to meet with […]


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Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Sep 25, 2015

Is Syria Putin’s Off-Ramp from the Ukraine Crisis?

By
John E. Herbst

Ever since Moscow’s “little green men” appeared in Crimea, the West has been anxious to provide Russian President Vladimir Putin an “off-ramp” from his aggression in Ukraine. US, French, German, and European Union diplomats have made numerous efforts to find a face-saving way for Putin to back off. For the longest time, however, it seemed […]


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Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Sep 25, 2015

Europe’s Next Wave of Migrants May Come From Ukraine

By
Diane Francis

In chess, a player is in “zugzwang” when no move will rescue his situation. Russian President Vladimir Putin has put Ukraine in “zugzwang” and, as things now stand, the country is unable to move forward militarily, economically or diplomatically. Without relief, Europe may end up with another deluge of asylum seekers, this time from Ukraine. […]


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Ukraine

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UkraineAlert

Aug 3, 2016

Trump’s Dangerous Bromance with Putin Is a National Security Threat

By Stephen Blank

Russia’s recent hacking attacks on the Clinton campaign, the Democratic National Committee, and the party’s fundraising committee for candidates for the US House of Representatives reflect Moscow’s view that it is in a state of political war with the United States, if not the West. Efforts to take down Western political institutions are hardly a […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 3, 2016

How the International Media Enables Russian Aggression in Ukraine

By Peter Dickinson

If anyone had attempted to report on “German-backed forces” in Nazi-occupied France or “pro-Soviet forces” during the Prague Spring, they would have been dismissed as either hopelessly misinformed or deeply disingenuous. While local collaborators and convenient euphemisms were plentiful in both instances, there was never any doubt as to who was really in control. This […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 2, 2016

Sloppy Thinking about War Helps No One

By Alexander J. Motyl

How likely is a war between the United States and Russia? According to Matthew Rojansky, director of the Wilson Center’s Kennan Institute, in a recent World Politics Review article, “a war between Russia and the United States is more likely today than at any time since the worst years of the Cold War.” That’s strong […]

NATO Russia

UkraineAlert

Aug 2, 2016

What Trade Policy Does Ukraine Need Now?

By Anders Åslund

At the informal ministerial meeting of the Eastern Partnership in Kyiv on July 11-12, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin proposed that the six members of the Eastern Partnership (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine) form a single economic space or free trade area. This is implausible. Ukraine does need to open its economy to […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 1, 2016

Trump Embraces Putin and Alienates Rust Belt Voters with Eastern European Roots

By Diane Francis

Hillary Clinton’s campaign bus rattles over potholes and bumps in the US Rust Belt while Donald Trump flits around on his private jet. Such optics never seem to hurt Trump or, conversely, to help Hillary, but much depends on voters in the Rust Belt, notably in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Trump may be a master of […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 27, 2016

Ukraine’s Deadly Profession: Three Journalists Attacked in July

By Melinda Haring

On July 20, investigative journalist Pavel Sheremet was assassinated in Kyiv. Sheremet hosted a morning show at Radio Vesti and was a top reporter at Ukrainska Pravda. A crusading journalist and native of Minsk, Belarus, he had already been expelled from both Belarus and Russia. He was killed by a car bomb. It would be […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 26, 2016

Intrigue, Outrage, and Relatively Free Elections in Ukraine

By Vladislav Davidzon

On the eve of Ukraine’s special elections on July 17, Nadiya Savchenko walked into the crowded Stansiya Lughansk district commission offices in eastern Ukraine. She was there to campaign for Fatherland’s Iryna Verihina, who had been Luhansk’s governor for about six months before being replaced. Catching sight of Serhiy Shakhov, a candidate for Nash Krai […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 26, 2016

Established Political Parties Benefit from Ukraine’s New Reform

By Miriam Kosmehl and Andreas Umland

This month, Ukraine introduced state financing of political parties in the hopes that it will create a more transparent, equal, and democratic playing field for politicians and their organizations. But the process will not be as beneficial to Ukraine’s reform efforts as it could have been. In October 2015, the Ukrainian parliament adopted Law No. […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 20, 2016

How the GOP Abandons Ukraine

By Jeffrey Gedmin

When asked recently why he turned up in Moscow last December to help celebrate the tenth anniversary of RT, Michael Flynn rambled about wanting to deliver stern lectures to the Russians. The retired US Lt. Gen.—who now serves as foreign policy adviser to Republican nominee Donald J. Trump—was seated at a gala dinner next to […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jul 20, 2016

Remembering the Former Soviet Union’s Top Investigative Journalist

By Anders Åslund

Car Bomb Kills Prominent Journalist Pavel Sheremet in Kyiv  It is hard to believe that Pavel Sheremet is dead because he was so full of life. He was an exuberant man who loved life and everything in it. A dinner with Pavel was always a wonderful and lively affair, and he enjoyed the food and […]

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