Except for the Baltic states, the countries of the former Soviet Union may be less democratic today than in the last years of the USSR.
About the Author
Archie Brown is emeritus professor of politics at Oxford University and emeritus fellow of St. Antony’s College, Oxford. His most recent book is Seven Years That Changed the World: Perestroika in Perspective (2007).
Although Ukraine’s regional divisions are often thought to be detrimental to state-building and democratization, they have in fact been a source of strength and helped to prevent tilts to the…