Ukraine & Russia : a fraternal rivalry /

This short book by British journalist Lieven is a comprehensive, balanced, and readable overview of the relationship between Ukraine and Russia and the ethnic balance within Ukraine. Drawing on academic sources and interviews with Ukrainian citizens, he describes a country that has managed to avoid the sort of ethnic conflict that has befallen Yugoslavia, the Caucasus, and other postsocialist states. Despite the fact that half of Ukrainians speak Russian as their first language and ethnic Russians make up another fifth of the population, Lieven argues that Russians and Ukrainians will continue to peacefully coexist in the newly-independent Ukraine. Neither Russian nationalism nor hard-line Ukrainian nationalism (based mainly in West Ukraine) is likely to disturb this balance. Hence he suggests efforts to include Ukraine in NATO are unnecessary. The volume could have offered more analysis of the economic collapse Ukraine has experienced, since this is the most likely source of future instability. It is accessible and would be suitable for undergraduate courses on post-Soviet politics or European security that attempt to cover Ukraine in one week. A comparable book would be Taras Kuzio's Ukraine under Kuchma (CH, Feb'98). Upper-division undergraduates and above. P. Rutland; Wesleyan University