Ukraine Belongs in the EU
Ukraine doesn’t just deserve EU membership. Its bid could revive and reunify Europe.
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Ukraine doesn’t just deserve EU membership. Its bid could revive and reunify Europe.
The Alaska summit between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin struck an uncanny resemblance to the Washington-Moscow meetings of the Cold War. But 2025 is not 1985. Washington and Moscow cannot simply redraw the map without Ukraine and Europe at the table. How should the war in Ukraine end?
The Russian autocrat forgot an age-old truth about working with common criminals and soldiers for hire.
July 2022, Volume 33, Issue 3
The more determined democracies are to avoid war, the greater the risk that autocracies will wage it.
July 2014, Volume 25, Issue 3
Controlling corruption is a huge challenge for Ukraine, especially in the natural-gas industry. The steps needed are well understood, if only the political will to take them can be summoned.
April 2025, Volume 36, Issue 2
Ukraine versus Russia is a modern David versus Goliath conflict that matters not only for the future of Ukraine, but for that of democracy itself.
Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began one year ago. The war has inflicted a heavy toll on Russia in addition to the mass carnage in Ukraine. But Ukrainians are fighting valiantly and finding creative means of resistance.
In 2022, we began publishing shorter, exclusively online pieces. No topic mattered more to you than Russia’s disastrous war in Ukraine. We also published essays from the sharpest minds on protests in China and Iran, instability in Pakistan, and more.
Russian rockets are targeting Ukrainian journalists’ ability to report the news, but the country’s media is finding new ways to stay on the air.
Monday, February 24, marks the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Hundreds of thousands have been wounded or killed, Ukrainian arsenals are drained, and Western allies are divided. Even so, Putin’s effort to stir support for his war has fallen flat. New evidence shows that the Russian people don’t support the fight.
Russian rockets are targeting Ukrainian journalists’ ability to report the news, but the country’s media is finding new ways to stay on the air. 9 March 2022 By Marta Dyczok As I sat writing this article, the people I was writing about, many of whom are my friends, were being attacked by Russian military forces.…
July 2022, Volume 33, Issue 3
Why did Russia invade Ukraine? And why are Russian forces fighting so poorly? The internal logic of its personalist dictatorship is to blame.
Forget his excuses. Russia’s autocrat doesn’t worry about NATO. What terrifies him is the prospect of a flourishing Ukrainian democracy. 22 February 2022 By Robert Person and Michael McFaul Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has begun. Russian president Vladimir Putin wants you to believe that it’s NATO’s fault. He frequently has claimed (including again in an…
Putin doesn’t care how many of his troops die. He is looking to win a war of attrition. On the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion, Ukraine needs the West’s help—and it needs it now.
What explains democracy’s declining fortunes — governments’ failure to deliver or institutions’ failure to stop power-hungry leaders? Why Ukraine’s defeat would jeopardize the entire liberal-democratic order. And how Syria must navigate the complexities of transitional justice and sectarian violence now that the hard work of rebuilding has begun.
Forget his excuses. Russia’s autocrat doesn’t worry about NATO. What terrifies him is the prospect of a flourishing Ukrainian democracy.
April 2022, Volume 33, Issue 2
Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has done something for the world’s democrats they could seemingly not do for themselves—given them renewed unity, purpose, and resolve.
Why we must tackle the threat posed by Putin and his authoritarianism head on. May 2022 By David J. Kramer The best hope for democracy in Russia—and all of Eurasia—is for the international community to support Ukraine in its efforts to defeat Vladimir Putin. The stakes for Ukraine, Russia, and the entire globe, for that…
Ten of the former ambassador’s best JoD essays spanning the last thirty years.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine isn’t just another land grab. It’s an attempt to recolonize lost empire, and threatens to return us to the age of conquest.