Ukraine: A Net Assessment of 16 Years of Independence

by Janusz Bugajski, Steven Pifer, Celeste A. Wallander

The Ukrainian people and their government have accomplished much since regaining independence in 1991, in terms of political and economic reform and in building constructive foreign relations with the West and Russia. The record is impressive, perhaps the most impressive of any state to have emerged from the defunct Soviet Union, with the exception of the Baltic nations. There have also, however, been many shortfalls and an inability to reach political compromises; pervasive corruption; lack of a generally accepted constitutional framework; and government intervention in markets, impeding progress toward a market economy. This report, commissioned by the U.S.-EU Partnership Committee for Ukraine, provides a net assessment of Ukraine s achievements and shortcomings over the last 16 years. The report examines developments in the areas of governance, economics, energy, the military, and international relations. And it offers a series of priority recommendations for Ukraine, as well as for the European Union and the United States, in order to continue progress in those areas.

44 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Janusz Bugajski is a senior fellow at the Jamestown Foundation in Washington, D.C., and host of “Bugajski Hour” television shows broadcast in the Balkans. He was formerly a senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) in Washington, D.C., and the director of New European Democracy Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Bugajski has served as a consultant on East European affairs for various U.S. organizations and government agencies as for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the United States Department of Defense, the International Republican Institute (IRI), the Free Trade Union Institute (AFL-CIO), the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX), and BBC television in London.

He testifies regularly before the U.S. Congress. He chairs the South-Central Europe area studies program at the Foreign Service Institute of the U.S. Department of State.