Ukraine gained its independence with the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, but it did not gain its freedom until the Orange Revolution in 2004. Yet even freedom did not bring change, as Ukraine’s first lady Kateryna Yushchenko notes, but the opportunity to achieve change. On the foundation of the Orange Revolution, the formidable task of building democratic institutions, economic growth, rule of law and civil society, begins.
About the Author
Kateryna Yushchenko is the first lady of Ukraine and chairperson of the Ukraine 3000 Foundation. Before moving to Ukraine from the United States, she served from 1986 to 1988 as special assistant to the U.S. assistant secretary of state for human rights and humanitarian affairs. She was also a cofounder and vice president of the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation. This essay draws on her address to the Fifth Assembly of the World Movement for Democracy in Kyiv on 6 April 2008.
Among a new generation of international democracy promoters—often former recipients of democracy assistance themselves—Poland stands out. Its efforts, though mostly in its own neighborhood, show the importance of combining direct…
Volodymyr Zelensky is far more than a brave wartime leader. He began changing the tenor and direction of Ukrainian politics long before the people made him their president.
Many pundits cry for a negotiated settlement to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. But they misunderstand Vladimir Putin’s motives. The only just end to the war will be…