Ukraine: A War Between a Liberal and Illiberal Democracy

Ukraine: A War Between a Liberal and Illiberal Democracy

The current crisis in Ukraine can simply be coined as a war between the citizens wanting their country to be a liberal or an illiberal democracy. The Eastern Ukrainians, who have substantial amounts of influence from Russia, wish to support Russia and it’s illiberal democracy, it’s competitive authoritarian regime. The Western Ukrainians wish to join the European Union and their liberal democracies based on the foundation that the rights of the people will be preserved and that the citizens has influence in the government. The Western Ukrainians understand what it means to be part of Russia, history stemming back all the way to 1600s, and understand that it comes at the cost of Ukraine losing its identity. To understand the mindset of Western Ukrainians, one must first understand the history.

In 1654, Ukraine was at war with Poland, Russia, and Tatar (what is known today as Turkey). The leader at the time, Bohdan Khmelnytsky, signed the Treaty of Pereyaslav with Russia, signed the treaty with only good intentions, to gain the support of a strong ally, however, his intentions were not met. The Russian leaders at the time had a very different idea of the meaning of the treaty, which led to the beginnings of Russian control of Ukraine (Raikhel, “They Did Something They Did Not Desire). In 1876, Tsar Alexander II of Russia banned the printing of Ukrainian language, as well as Ukrainian language stage performances, and only allowed printing in Russian, as well as Russian only stage performances (“Ems Ukaz”). In 1888, Alexander III banned the use of Ukrainian language in government institutions as well as baptizing children with Ukrainian names. These blatant acts were attempt...

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...ent out of the country during his rule. (Zinets and Heritage, “Ukraine PM Says $37 Billion Went Missing Under Yanukovich”). Yanukovich’s $75 million home, the missing $37 billion, and the way Russia has been lying about and slandering the protestors has convinced the former pro-Russian Eastern Ukraine that joining the European Union is the best possible decision.

The people of Ukraine see how the Russian media is controlled, how the Russian competitive authoritarian regime works, and they wish to have no part of it. The people in Ukraine want a fair and just government, they want to join the European Union where the rights of the citizens are preserved, where the President doesn’t control the entire country and the citizens have a voice, where the media and people have freedom of speech, and to finally become completely independent from Russia and its influence.