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Feb 28, 2014 11:30 am | Nikolas K. Gvosdev
With
the situation in Crimea having the potential to spiral out of control
and Ukraine again emerging as a battleground between Russia and the
West, the Obama administration may soon come to rue the expulsion of
Viktor Yanukovych as president—unless his replacement is able to restore
the balance between East and West, and in a fashion that can satisfy
the expectations of the people of Ukraine for a more transparent, less
corrupt government. After all, Yanukovych had campaigned on the promise
that he would be more successful than his predecessor Viktor Yushchenko
to link Ukraine to Europe economically while not burning bridges with
Russia—and, as Adrian Karatnycky had noted
when Yanukovych was first elected, "the signals emanating from Mr.
Yanukovych's closest aides ... suggest the new president and the
government he will try to bring into office will likely represent a
broad-based mix of longtime Regions party officials, and competent
financial and economic technocrats and market reformers." Instead, over
time, Yanukovych became more authoritarian and corrupt in his ways—but
there was one particular service his administration carried out on
behalf of the United States.The administration may not like to hear it—but its 'reset' with Russia which was lauded as one of its first term's triumphs—was facilitated in large measure by Yanukovych's election four years ago. The rhetoric about turning over a new leaf in U.S.-Russia relations was largely talk during 2009—an effort to change the tone—but with little substance to show for it.
read morehttp://nationalinterest.org/commentary/ukraines-complex-place-us-russian-relations-9976
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