Decision In The Ukraine

Myth-busting account of the summer of 1943 on the Eastern Front, one of World War II's turning pointsIncludes the Battle of KurskSpecial focus on the notorious 3rd SS Panzer Division "Totenkopf"

With the disintegration of the Soviet Union, a number of new states were created that had little or no claim to any previous existence. Ukraine is one of the countries that faced not only political, social and economic transformation, but also state formation and the redefinition of national identity. This book uses Ukraine as a case study in trying to trace the key moments of decision making in the course of creating a new state while shedding the legacies of "Soviet-type" statehood. The Moulding of Ukraine offers a systematic examination of competing ideological visions of statehood and discusses them against the backdrop of historical traditions in Ukraine. This well-documented and lucidly written book is the only coherent account available in English of the process of constitutional reform, offering an insight into post-Soviet Ukrainian politics. A useful addition to university course reading lists in Ukrainian studies, post-Soviet studies, post-communist democratization, comparative constitutionalism, state-building and institutional design.

Everyday Religiosity and the Politics of Belonging in Ukraine reveals how and why religion has become a pivotal political force in a society struggling to overcome the legacy of its entangled past. If Ukraine is ground zero in the tensions between Russia and the West, the establishment of an independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church is ground zero in the undeclared war between Russia and Ukraine. Vibrant forms of everyday religiosity pave the way for religion to be weaponized and securitized to advance political agendas in Ukraine and beyond. Based on ethnographic data and interviews conducted over the past ten years, Catherine Wanner investigates the conditions that catapulted religiosity, religious institutions, and religious leaders to the forefront of politics and geopolitics. Everyday Religiosity and the Politics of Belonging in Ukraine analyzes the paradoxes of everyday religiosity that Eastern Christianity fosters, specifically the myriad popular devotional practices that exist alongside negligible participation in church-based ritual. These practices, Wanner argues, enable religiosity to be increasingly present in public space, institutions, and wartime politics in a pluralist society that claims to be secular.

“A beautifully written evocation of Ukraine's brutal past and its shaky efforts to construct a better future.”—Financial Times Borderland tells the story of Ukraine. A thousand years ago it was the center of the first great Slav civilization, Kievan Rus. In 1240, the Mongols invaded from the east, and for the next seven centuries, Ukraine was split between warring neighbors: Lithuanians, Poles, Russians, Austrians, and Tatars. Again and again, borderland turned into battlefield: during the Cossack risings of the seventeenth century, Russia's wars with Sweden in the eighteenth, the Civil War of 1918-1920, and under Nazi occupation. Ukraine finally won independence in 1991, with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Bigger than France and a populous as Britain, it has the potential to become one of the most powerful states in Europe. In this finely written and penetrating book, Anna Reid combines research and her own experiences to chart Ukraine's tragic past. Talking to peasants and politicians, rabbis and racketeers, dissidents and paramilitaries, survivors of Stalin's famine and of Nazi labor camps, she reveals the layers of myth and propaganda that wrap this divided land. From the Polish churches of Lviv to the coal mines of the Russian-speaking Donbass, from the Galician shtetlech to the Tatar shantytowns of Crimea, the book explores Ukraine's struggle to build itself a national identity, and identity that faces up to a bloody past, and embraces all the peoples within its borders.

A New York Times bestseller, this definitive history of Ukraine is “an exemplary account of Europe’s least-known large country” (Wall Street Journal). As Ukraine is embroiled in an ongoing struggle with Russia to preserve its territorial integrity and political independence, celebrated historian Serhii Plokhy explains that today’s crisis is a case of history repeating itself: the Ukrainian conflict is only the latest in a long history of turmoil over Ukraine’s sovereignty. Situated between Central Europe, Russia, and the Middle East, Ukraine has been shaped by empires that exploited the nation as a strategic gateway between East and West—from the Romans and Ottomans to the Third Reich and the Soviet Union. In The Gates of Europe, Plokhy examines Ukraine’s search for its identity through the lives of major Ukrainian historical figures, from its heroes to its conquerors. This revised edition includes new material that brings this definitive history up to the present. As Ukraine once again finds itself at the center of global attention, Plokhy brings its history to vivid life as he connects the nation’s past with its present and future.

In The EU-Ukraine Association Agreement and Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, Guillaume Van der Loo provides the first comprehensive legal analysis of this complex and controversial international agreement.

The thesis examines the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC) and its role in the political decision-making process. The paper analyzes the influence of the NSDC on political process in the Ukraine during the 8 years it has been in existence, all post-Soviet years. In particular, the thesis analyzes the influence of the NSDC and of its Secretaries on the Ukrainian Government. The paper also examines the experiences of leading East- European countries and the United States in resolving issues of national security policy and how these experiences can be applied to the Ukrainian situation. Following an introductory chapter is a chapter that analyzes the experiences of Poland, Russia, and the United States in the institutionalization of their national security policies. Chapter 3 highlights the role that the NSDC assumed during the time of its first Secretary, Volodymyr Gorbulin, during the period 1994 to 1999. During this time the NSDC evolved from a structural component of the President's administration into an organization officially recognized by the Constitution. Chapter 4 analyzes the new role of the NSDC after the Presidential election of 1999, when Yevhen Marchuk was offered the position of Secretary of the NSDC in exchange for his backing of Leonid Kuchma, the new President. The final chapter presents some conclusions by the author, among them that the significance of the NSDC in the Ukranian political system is declining. This change seems to be caused primarily by the political strengthening of the President's power at the expense of other governmental entities. The decline of NSDC's influence also may be attributed to the personal relations between Secretary Marchuk and President Kuchma. (46 refs.)