Recent commentaries on Orange Revolution in Ukraine

[Natalia Pylypiuk]

Greetings!  I thought fellow Slavists might find the following useful.
Cheers, Natalia Pylypiuk
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(1)  The Russian dramaturg Maksim Kurochkin reports [in Russian] to
*Nezavisimaja gazeta* (17-XII-04) on events in Kyiv
(as reprinted by Ukrajins'ka pravda):
http://www2.pravda.com.ua/archive/2004/december/17/4.shtml

(2) George Packer Publishes a comment, "Invasion vs. Persuasion,"
in *The New Yorker* magazine (Issue of 2004-12-20 and 27):
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/content/?041220ta_talk_packer

(3) For an article, in Ukrainian, on the actual costs of the Orange
Revolution,
visit Ukrajins'ka Pravda:  http://www2.pravda.com.ua/
[Click on article in the right column that begins with
17.12.2004, 16:49
Akciji na Majdani obijshlys' by
Janukovychu v pivtora mil'jarda dolariv.

(4) On topics related to no. 2 and 3, see

(a) editorial of the Kyiv Post:
"U.S. money and the Orange revolution"
http://www.kyivpost.com/opinion/editorial/22068/

(b)  "Europe's Ukraine III: Who Supports Yushchenko? - Leftist
Fantasies and German Realities"
  by John Rosenthal
  Transatlantic Intelligencer Blog, 9 December 2004
http://trans-int.blogspot.com/2004/12/europes-ukraine-iii-who-
supports.html

(c) "The $65m Question. When, how - and where - should we promote
democracy? First we need the facts"
  by Timothy Garton Ash.  *The Guardian* (UK), 16 December 2004.  I
quote an excerpt from this article:

 >>> Beginning of quote>>>
Increasingly, these days, democracy-promotion takes place in states
somewhere in-between, with semi-authoritarian, semi-democratic regimes
of the kind that are known in Latin America as democradura. Gangsterish
practices of blackmail or intimidation and biased television channels
owned by friendly oligarchs are as important as formal instruments of
state. In this grey zone, it's difficult to lay down clear rules of the
road, but a starting point might be:

  5. Proportionality. As with the "just war" arguments for humanitarian
intervention, so with democracy-promotion. But what is proportionate?
The US state department recently said it spent some $65m in Ukraine in
the past two years. Other western governments and independent donors
made significant contributions. I have before me an October 2004 report
from the Soros foundation in Ukraine that says it allocated $1,201,904
to NGOs for "elections-related projects". The donors say this western
money went to help create conditions for free and fair elections, not
directly to the opposition; that, too, should be carefully examined.
Meanwhile, it has been suggested that as much as $200m came from Russia
for the government side. Modern elections are usually won or lost on
television, and most of the channels were clearly biased to the
government. How much makes a level playing field?

  6. Supporting, not manufacturing. Promoting democracy should be about
encouraging people who want democracy, not dollars. Often those who
have least democracy want it most. Comparative data suggests that
people in Arab countries are more enthusiastic about democracy than we
are. But it's obvious that pumping in large sums where there are few
local initiatives can be distorting. Solidarity in Poland was a wholly
authentic, home-grown movement that then got western support. Some
subsequent east European initiatives seemed to start at the other end.
One east European friend commented wryly: "We dreamed of civil society
and got NGOs." In Arab countries, it will be even more vital, and
difficult, to identify initiatives that are authentic and home-grown.

  This is, I repeat, just a first attempt to rough out a few first
principles. Before we go any further, we need more facts. "Facts are
subversive," said the great American journalist IF Stone - and they can
also be subversive of myths about subversion.

  In the meantime, we must keep a basic sense of proportion. In the last
week, Austrian doctors have put it beyond reasonable doubt that an
attempt was made to poison the Ukrainian opposition candidate, Viktor
Yushchenko. Anyone who thinks there is any moral equivalence between
funding an exit poll and poisoning a political opponent needs their
head examined.

 >>>>> End of quote.

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