Combating corruption

Russia is seeing a potential challenge emerging to Putinism, but it is coming from the unlikeliest of places: instead of pro-Western liberals, it is the nationalists, ones whom the Kremlin tried, but failed, to court, who are offering an alternative political vision. To a large extent, this is Vladimir Putin’s own fault. He has created a toxic and dangerous dichotomy in emerging Russian politics, one that has been thrown into sharp relief by the renewed drive for the creation of a nationalist opposition movement. Any wellsprings of genuine liberalism as understood in the West have been systematically poisoned or dammed by the Kremlin. Meanwhile, the dominant domestic model of economically liberal politics is championed by kleptocrats who are invested in better relations with the West but, for all their talk of rule of law at home, want to retain their freedom to steal. Much as the West may approve of such figures as former finance minister Alexei Kudrin, former prime minister Mi...

Four years since the start of its ‘Euromaidan’ revolution, Ukraine is fighting for its survival as an independent and viable state. Ukrainians took to the streets in late 2013 in protest at their government’s suspension, under pressure from Russia, of plans for a closer relationship with the European Union. While their activism forced President Viktor Yanukovych from power and heralded a more EU-aligned foreign policy under a new government, it also prompted a hostile response from Russia, which annexed Crimea in early 2014, started a territorial conflict in eastern Ukraine, and continues to try to fragment and enfeeble its neighbour.  This report is partly about Ukraine’s struggle to hold together and resist Russia’s interference and pressure – in the military, diplomatic, economic and media spheres. But it is also about a related internal contest to determine the political, institutional and civic future of Ukraine. In broader terms the Euromaidan was a response as much...

Yulia Marushevska, known for publishing the video “I am ukrainian” that went viral in 2014 and her work fighting corruption in her country, was part of 2017’s College Freedom Forum at UFM, where she shared her story. She begins reflecting on the positive similarities between Ukraine and Guatemala, and questions, why are we so poor? Yulia says for Ukraine the answer is corruption, because for more than 25 years soviet political elites were stealing money from the government. During Viktor Yanukovych, presidency corruption grew to enormous scales, which provoked a turning point: people organized a pacific protest, in which several students were badly beaten. This caused thousands of people to protest all over the country for three months against the situation “It was a great moment for unity, when we said goodbye to post soviet heritage, when we decided together that we want to live in a more just society.” After some time, snipers started shooting the crowds. Yulia was despe...