Ukraine’s hardline PM, Nikolai (Mykola) Azarov, has submitted his resignation. Sounds promising but I won’t pretend I have any idea what comes next.
Here’s an interesting thread on Ukraine on Crooked Timber, showing how much and how little intellectuals know about Ukraine.
And a well-reasoned piece by Greg Satell on Forbes calling for Western intervention.
I’ve been trying to argue in the comments sections that the old East-West stereotypes are become less and less relevant. Ukraine’s largest problem is its malfunctioning institutions, and Russia has nothing to offer here. Cheap gas and zero-tariff trade could give a short-term boost to the economy but cannot drive away corruption and fix the courts.
[…] Peter Pomerantsev (via LH) thinks that theory is worse than an oversimplification, and Alexei K. also thinks the East/West divide is becoming “less and less relevant.” William Risch’s on-the-spot updates at Sean’s Russia Blog describe opponents of the […]