Opinions Archives - Forum for Ukrainian Studies

The Study of Ukrainian Nationalism at the University of Ottawa

Posted on December 1, 2014March 16, 2018 by Taras Kuzio

In October of this year, Ivan Katchanovski who is based at the School of Political Studies at the University of Ottawa presented a paper to the Chair of Ukrainian Studies at his university and a second paper at the conference “Negotiating Borders: Comparing the Experience of Crimea, Europe and Ukraine” that was organized by the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Alberta. The two papers have generated controversy because they are revisionist…

Corruption, Immunity and Parliamentary Coalitions

Posted on October 20, 2014March 16, 2018 by Taras Kuzio

‘If you do not vote for lustration, there will be castration instead.’ Parliamentary Chairman Oleksandr Turchynov Why are political leaders from both the People’s Front (NF) and Petro Poroshenko bloc (PPB) both eager to include Oleh Lyashko’s Radical Party in the new parliamentary coalition? Everybody after all knows it is a virtual political “party” that is funded by the gas lobby and former President Viktor Yanukovych’s Chief of Staff, Serhiy Leyovochkin. A parliamentary majority coalition…

Preparing for Elections in Ukraine

Posted on October 8, 2014March 16, 2018 by David Marples

Preparing for New Parliamentary Elections in Ukraine Two years after the previous elections for the Ukrainian Parliament, a new election campaign is underway. The vote will take place on October 26 under the most difficult conditions the independent state has ever faced. What is the likely outcome and what impact might the newly endorsed Parliament have on Ukraine, the continuing conflict with Russia and the war zones of the Donbas? It is worth recalling that the…

‘Experts’ on Ukraine: All Hands on Deck!

Posted on October 3, 2014October 7, 2014 by Volodymyr Kravchenko

‘Experts’ on Ukraine: All Hands on Deck! (Re: Vladimir Golstein, “Why Everything You’ve Read About Ukraine Is Wrong” (5/19/2014) To put it plainly, it has been a long time since I read so shoddy a text signed by a representative of an academic corporation as the article by an American Slavist at Brown University, Vladimir Golstein, published in Forbes on May 19 of this year.

Ukraine after Yanukovych

Posted on October 2, 2014March 16, 2018 by Volodymyr Kravchenko

Ukraine after Yanukovych through a Historian’s Eyes Volodymyr Kravchenko What we see in Ukraine today is the further dismantling of the Soviet order that took shape back in the times of Leonid Brezhnev. That was the period that saw the formation and rise of most of the present-day Ukrainian political, bureaucratic, and business elite. They include the just-replaced head of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, who is, fortunately, safe and sound; the head of the…