Ukraine and Russia: Two States, One Crisis

ABSTRACT

This paper demonstrates that the international crisis in Ukraine is accompanied not just by a matching domestic Ukrainian crisis, but also one in Russia. Though the crisis in Ukraine is much more severe—including a civil war—the two crises have much in common: both are crises of oligarchic rule, economic dependence on resources and a crisis of social services. Within an overarching narrative of the development of the twin crisis and their interrelations, the article provides insights into the dynamics of these crises which are at considerable distance from the stereotypes peddled in liberal and even some left cultures in Ukraine, Russia as well as the West.

KEYWORDS:

• Russia
• Ukraine
• oligarchy
• European Union
• NATO
• Maidan

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Boris Kagarlitsky is professor at the Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences and director of the Institute for Globalization Studies and Social Movements (IGSO). He specializes in Russian and international economic history, Russian politics, and international left. His recent books include: The Revolt of the Middle Class (Moscow: Kulturnaya revolutsiya, 2006), Empire of the Periphery: Russia and the World System (London: Pluto Press, 2007), Back in the USSR (London: Seagull Books, 2009), and From Empires to Imperialism: The State and the Rise of Bourgeois Civilisation (London: Routledge, 2014).

Notes

1 Boris has a tendency to use quotation marks as “scare quotes”. Essentially they are ways of distancing himself from words and phrases others use, in this case the liberal intelligentsia, which he is merely reporting but does not agree with.

2 See http://uapress.info/ru/news/show/22058.

3 See http://voicesevas.ru/news/yugo-vostok/387-oficialnoe-zajavlenie-mid-dnr-ob-itogah-.html.

4 See http://rabkor.ru/columns/editorial-columns/2014/05/07/ashes-2/, and http://timer-odessa.net/news/nemirovskiy_nazval_boynyu_v_odesse_zakonnoy_267.html.

5 See Mozgovoy's diaries: http://maxpark.com/community/129/content/5304793.