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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

Jan 30, 2020

Сегодня Крым, Россия завтра?

By
Melinda Haring

С аннексии Крыма весной 2014 года, Россия изменяла Украинский полуостров на темную дырку человеческих прав и огромная военную базу. Эта худшая ситуация может быть переменены в других местах в России и дальше, предупреждает Мелинда Харинг.


Conflict


Financial Sanctions and Economic Coercion


UkraineAlert

Jan 30, 2020

Crimea today, Russia tomorrow?

By
Melinda Haring

Since seizing Crimea in spring 2014, Russia has transformed the Ukrainian peninsula into a human rights black hole and a giant military base. This deteriorating situation could be replicated elsewhere in Russia and beyond, warns Melinda Haring.


Human Rights


Russia


UkraineAlert

Jan 30, 2020

Climate change threatens the Ukrainian breadbasket

By
Anna Ackermann

Ukraine is currently experiencing one of the mildest winters on record. This is sparking concern over the pace of climate change in the country and the implications for an economy that relies heavily on its status as an emerging agricultural superpower.


Climate Change & Climate Action


Macroeconomics


UkraineAlert

Jan 30, 2020

Pressuring Putin is the only way to end Ukraine’s pain

By
Paul Niland

Many observers believe the undeclared war between Russia and Ukraine has already become a de facto frozen conflict – but Paul Niland argues the only way to secure a lasting peace is to focus on increasing the cost of Russian aggression.


Conflict


Russia


UkraineAlert

Jan 27, 2020

Ukraine’s fate will shape global security – and Americans should care

By
Peter Dickinson

During a January 24 post-interview exchange, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reportedly asked a radio host, "Do you think Americans care about Ukraine?" This has sparked a lively debate about US-Ukrainian ties and the threat posed by Russian aggression.


Conflict


National Security


UkraineAlert

Jan 27, 2020

PACE risks becoming a watchdog with no bite

By
Oleksiy Goncharenko

Ukraine's return to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is in danger of being overshadowed by efforts to make it much more difficult to impose sanctions similar to the measures aimed at Russia over the 2014 invasion of Ukraine. Will Europe's human rights watchdog lose its bite?


Europe & Eurasia


International Organizations


UkraineAlert

Jan 27, 2020

Is Putin preparing a new Ukraine strategy?

By
Anders Åslund

The departure of Vladimir Putin's gray cardinal Vladislav Surkov and his replacement as Ukraine policy curator by Dmitry Kozak has led to speculation that Russia could be planning a change in its Ukraine strategy.


Conflict


Politics & Diplomacy


UkraineAlert

Jan 24, 2020

Rumors of Ukraine’s death on Capitol Hill are greatly exaggerated

By
John E. Herbst

Ukraine's role at the heart of the Trump impeachment process has raised concerns that bipartisan support for the country could suffer but John E. Herbst argues that US backing for Ukraine remains strong.


Politics & Diplomacy


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Jan 23, 2020

Ukraine’s economic target: From stabilization to growth

By
Vladislav Inozemtsev

Ukraine has staged a strong economic recovery over the past few years but the question in 2020 is whether the new Zelenskyy government can lead the country's economy from stabilization to sustainable growth.


Economy & Business


Fiscal and Structural Reform


UkraineAlert

Jan 22, 2020

Ukraine can feed Brexit Britain

By
Bate C. Toms

The UK is Europe's biggest food importer and Ukraine is one of the continent's top agricultural producers. This makes a post-Brexit free trade deal a potentially big win for both countries.


Trade and tariffs


Ukraine

spotlight

The views expressed in UkraineAlert are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Atlantic Council, its staff, or its supporters.

The Eurasia Center’s mission is to enhance transatlantic cooperation in promoting stability, democratic values, and prosperity in Eurasia, from Eastern Europe and Turkey in the West to the Caucasus, Russia, and Central Asia in the East.

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Content

UkraineAlert

Oct 21, 2015

Battle to End Pharma Corruption Makes Progress, Needs Push

By Josh Cohen

As the ceasefire in the Donbas takes hold, Ukraine can now face its other existential threat: the endemic corruption that threatens the country’s long-term stability and prosperity. While graft within the Ukrainian government is widespread, corruption is perhaps most threatening in the area of government procurement. Public procurement corruption costs Kyiv billions, with as much […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 21, 2015

Ukrainians Face Another Election Headache

By Irena Chalupa

People are more important than political interests. This party will never betray you. Fair wages and pensions. People, not politicians. Let’s unite for Ukraine! Order and justice. These are just a few of the messages blaring at Kyiv residents from billboards. Ukraine’s capital is awash with campaign tents manned by students and retirees wearing smocks […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 20, 2015

“No Fighting” in Ukraine Is Not “Peace”

By Aaron Korewa

The main problem with the West’s approach to Russian President Vladimir Putin is that it doesn’t seem to know who it’s dealing with. In an excellent article in Foreign Policy, Raymond Tanter states the bleatingly obvious—the Russian leader is nothing but a bully and should be treated as such. While the United States and Europe […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 19, 2015

Europe’s Refugee Crisis Shows Ukraine’s Resilience

By Colin Cleary

Ukraine Has Absorbed 1.5 Million Displaced; Soon It Must Employ Them With Europe awash in more than a half-million refugees from Middle Eastern and other wars, it might be easy to overlook Ukraine’s response to its own population—nearly three times the size, at 1.5 million—displaced by the Russian-backed war in the east. More than 18 […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 19, 2015

Ukrainians Eager to Go to Polls

By Brian Mefford

In less than a week, Ukrainians go to the polls to elect mayors, city councils, and regional councils, and they’re eager to do so. A recent poll carried out by the International Republican Institute found that 75 percent of Ukrainians are very likely or somewhat likely to vote on October 25. A new law requires […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 19, 2015

Ukraine Can Beat Its Political Corruption

By Anders Åslund

Ukraine’s politics suffer from a vicious circle of corruption. Its elections are extremely expensive. Large amounts of gray and black funds are needed to finance them. Criminals, called gray cardinals, handle this black financing, extracted from the state treasury and state companies. To corrupt all, the gray cardinals and their political allies insist on tiny […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 15, 2015

New Movie Reveals Russia’s Attempts to Destroy Ukraine

By Diane Francis

Ukraine is a nation interrupted, its identity and promise stolen by invaders and predators for centuries. Ukraine’s principle oppressor has been, and remains, Russia where leaders like Russian President Vladimir Putin propagate the fiction that Ukraine is “little Russia.” But the two are distinctive and the Ukrainian language is as different from Russian as is […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 14, 2015

Why Crimea’s Blockade is Necessary

By Maksym Bugriy

Since September 20, Crimean Tatar activists and other protesters—mostly from Right Sector—have been blockading the flow of goods from mainland Ukraine to Crimea. The Kyiv government has neither formally supported nor criticized the move. The reaction among analysts, observers, and bloggers has been mixed—from enthusiasm to caution and even downright criticism.

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 14, 2015

Made in Moscow: Religious Freedom Abuses Continue in Crimea and Eastern Ukraine

By Mary Ann Glendon and Katrina Lantos Swett

“We cannot stand by when the sovereignty and territorial integrity of a nation is flagrantly violated,” US President Barack Obama said on September 28 at the UN General Assembly. He was condemning Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its aggressive moves in eastern Ukraine. Much of the world has decried these acts and their most visible […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Oct 14, 2015

For Decentralization to Work, Reformers Must Support Legislation for Strong Local Governance

By Joshua Solomon

As the August 31 grenade attacks, rioting, and violent protests at Ukraine’s Parliament—the Verkhovna Rada—demonstrated quite literally, the Ukrainian decentralization effort is an explosive issue. Constitutional amendments granting local communities greater governing responsibilities have sparked widespread criticism, both in Ukraine and in the West. Some warn that the new system will excessively empower the president […]

Ukraine