Ukraine And The Soviet Union

Ukraine’s hope and will was in the hands of the dictator Joseph Stalin. Joseph Stalin instilled a totalitarian government into Ukraine’s society. Moreover, Stalin tried to cut any threats that would affect his plan in making Russia a communist utopia, by using the secret police. But according to document 1, the Ukrainian’s were independent, rebellious people who believed strongly in their culture and traditional ways consequently, this caused much controversy with Joseph Stalin and the Ukrainian’s, such as Ukrainian’s not being able to speak up about the collectivization and not being able to practice different religions because of Russification. Likewise, Stalin used propaganda for in an effort of gaining support for collectivization, this

Russia began its reform with political liberalization, and many believe that Russia’s failure was partly due to focusing on political reform first and they should have begun with economic reforms which China had done. This lead to political turmoil so severe that in 1989-1993 workers were politically neutralized and unable to stop Yeltsin’s liberal market reforms. But, a small group of oligarchs helped to

Over the past decade (from 2004 to 2014), political corruption in Russia government is gradually uncovered by some global medias and organizations. Such tendency not only repainted the entire landscape of Russia government, but also raised public awareness on the significance of preventing a greater deterioration of this political phenomenon worldwide. This report aims to prove such political phenomenon is unethical through the comparison with code of conduct, and to provide tangible measures and solutions. The result suggests that high-level of corruption in the Russian government is one of the factors of inflation. It is also found that corruption will lead to social issues. Most importantly, such political behavior is unethical regarding the code of conduct. In order to achieve a revolutionary change in the Russia government, therefore, a redefinition of legislation and a recreation of domestic press are indispensible.

The oligarchs came to be known as the concentrated centralized economic class of corrupt men who took advantage of Yeltsins privatization movement. These economic elite ascended to power during Yeltsin's terms. Yeltsin's economic plans lead to corruption, economic stagnation and increased power of the oligarchs. The oligarchs were adroit at finding loopholes and ways around any attempt Yeltsin had at privatization. They did not follow any market rules because there were really none in place in the infant Russian market. The oligarchs took money out of Russia by setting up offshore accounts from their enterprises; defeating the purpose of the economic reforms by not investing money back into the

Organized crime quickly began eating away at the Soviet Machine and during the regime of Leonid Brezhnev in the 60's and 70's corruption became a way of life within the Soviet elite. The result was a thriving black market. Shakedowns that were once conducted in the shadows were now going on in broad daylight. By the 1970's, small illegal businesses sprang

Additionally, we find that the protests were very different than the protests in the U.S. To start, massive corruption, voter intimidation, and direct electoral fraud had caused an entire country to go out and affirm their beliefs in certain leaders. The people of Ukraine’s galvanized an entire country dedicated to change in government whereas concerns in the U.S seemed to mainly show problems with social inequality. The dichotomies between these too protests as we see were very different and very clear. Some additional distinctions in the protest include that the U.S was made up of micro groups that were unsatisfied with the disparities occurring between the different classes, the groups were seemingly fragmented, had no straight forward vision, constantly contradicted themselves, made noise by occupying public spaces, were relatively small and unthreatening, and eventually, many might say the “occupy movement”

Its been estimated that the markets corruption has almost exceeded 260 million in 2006. Russian police institutions are far more centralized than the U.S. police, which could mean that Russians' views of the police are closely associated with their views of other federal government institutions rather than their personal experiences Corruption (Feifer, 2003). Russia corruption started around the 18th century when the government official would perform Kormlenie corruption, which means authority receiving fees, goods, and services from interested areas (Marenin, 1997). Since 1715 accepting a bribe in Russia was considered a crime. Official started to abuse this power and started to receive fixed salaries. At that time Peter the Great had increased so many fixed salaries that irregularity and bribes where out of control especially for official. Even official of lower rank were able to get these fix’s salaries. By 1922 bribery was considered a counter- revolutionary activity was a criminal code punishable by death.

government, a deliberate act of killing 7-10 million Ukrainians. It was not a result of any

Oligarchy as it is known in Aristotle’s politics; is a government run by a small group of people, ‘elites’. However, the oligarchy which this essay addresses is currently referred to in Russia as “a very wealthy and politically well-connected businessman...one who is the main owner of a conglomerate of enterprises and has close ties with the president” (Aslund and Dabrowski, 2007; 144). In the 1990s Russia’s economic reforms are said to have created the rise of a small group of oligarchs who gained an overwhelming amount of power and control. By 1997, this small group of previously unknown businessmen and bankers, often with gangster ties, had acquired control of many of the key parts of the Russian economy. Why did they emerge? It is argued by David Satter that three processes facilitated the emergence of the oligarchs. The first was hyperinflation and the social, economic and political consequences. The second was the process of privatisation, and finally the third was criminalisation (Satter, 2003). However, were these powerful oligarchs just a phase during the transition from Soviet to Post-Soviet Russia? Even with Putin’s efforts and declaration to distance the oligarchs from politics and power, and start a war against them exemplified by the Khodorkovsky affair, are oligarchs still significantly powerful in contemporary Russia? What is the role they play in Russia? It seems that the power of those original oligarchs of the 1990s has decreased or been concealed in

Ukraine used to be known as “Kievan Rus” before renaming it in the 16th century. During the 9th century, Kiev was the central focus politically and culturally in Eastern Europe. Keivan Rus maximized it’s intake of power in the 10th century due to the Mongol conquest in 1240, but not before adopting Byzantine Christianity. Between the 13th and the 16th century, Kiev was significantly influenced by Poland and Western Europe. In 1596, the negotiation of the Union of Brest-Litovsk dismembered the Ukrainians into Catholic faithful and Orthodox. When Ukraine had asked for protection against Poland from the czar of Muscovy in 1654, the agreement, it gave the interpretation to Moscow that it was an suggestion to take over Kiev, as a result absorbing into the Russian Empire.

Tensions in the region began when the Ukrainian government decided against the agreement with the European Union (EU) in fall of 2013. This was not just a trade agreement, but also a political agreement that committed Ukraine to adhere to certain European values and principles. Following this decision, rampant protests combined with increasing corruption within the government spurred chaos and unrest within the region drawing the attention of the Russian Government (BBC 2014). By January 2014, the protests became violent as confrontations between

Corruption during the 1990’s increased and expanded with the developments of the Russian Mafia. “Many Russians believed that the unbridled pursuit of individual interests during the 1990s gave rise to

Corruption constitutes a significant part of politics in Eastern Europe to the extent that “talking about corruption is the way post- communist public talks about politics, economy about past and future” (Krastov, p 43). Transparency International defines corruption as “a misuse of public power for the private gain at the expense of the public good”. There are different types of corruption: bureaucratic, political –administrative, political legislative and judicial corruption. (Ott, p 72). Scholars introduced many potential explanations behind the astronomical levels of corruption in Central and Eastern Europe. In

The current sovereignty dispute in Ukraine raises many questions. Along with those questions, particular interests are peaked. From historians, to military strategists, even those who believe the Cold War never ended watch with a discriminating eye. Of particular interests is Russian President Vladimir Putin. Political and historical experts alike have compared his recent actions and tactics to that as someone reading and implementing the works of Niccolo Machiavelli. Indeed, one can simply go chapter by chapter from works such as “The Prince” and see striking similarities. But what if Ukraine’s response was different? What if they responded to Russian military incursions and action on their territory the same way?

The Republic of Crimea is situated on a peninsula extending from the south of Ukraine between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. It is separated from Russia by the Kerch Strait. After the Cold War protests broke out against the pro-Moscow government led by Viktor Yanukovych. He stepped down and was replaced by Olexander Turchynov as the interim Prime Minister. A referendum was held and the great majority of the Russian-speaking Crimean people wished Crimea to become a part of the Russian Federation. Since Crimea was a part of Russia until 1954 there is a basis for this accession. The referendum was considered illegal and sanctions were imposed on Russia by the United States of America and certain European countries. In 1996 the Ukrainian constitution declared that Crimea would have independent republic status. Crimea has its own official parliament as well; however, as an unofficial parliament called the Mejlis, whose resolve is to endorse the rights and interests of the Crimean Tatars.