Whenever Ukraine appears in our news cycle, it is talked about as if it's a simpler place than it is.
The political dynamic gets reduced to neat binaries-the forces there are either pro-Russia or pro-West; leaders are either corrupt actors or laudable reformers; the good guys versus the bad guys.
Ukraine would like America and Europe to think of it as a promising young democracy, the good little country struggling to fend off the gravitational pull of evil Russia.
"At its most corrupt, you can get very rich, but you need permission to get very rich, so politicians and oligarchs are linked in all kinds of ways. In some ways, it's very similar to Russia. But Ukraine is a country where you're more likely to get rich without getting killed if you're a Western businessman or political consultant."
Plenty of American political operatives find there's a lucrative market for their services in the country.
One candidate in Ukraine's 2010 presidential election, for example, made the American political consultants working on his campaign a major selling point.
Much of the money that works its way into politics in Ukraine comes from the energy sector-perhaps the most lawless corner of the economy.
https://www.gq.com/story/ukraine-us-political-scandals-including-trump-impeachment-inquiry
The political dynamic gets reduced to neat binaries-the forces there are either pro-Russia or pro-West; leaders are either corrupt actors or laudable reformers; the good guys versus the bad guys.
Ukraine would like America and Europe to think of it as a promising young democracy, the good little country struggling to fend off the gravitational pull of evil Russia.
"At its most corrupt, you can get very rich, but you need permission to get very rich, so politicians and oligarchs are linked in all kinds of ways. In some ways, it's very similar to Russia. But Ukraine is a country where you're more likely to get rich without getting killed if you're a Western businessman or political consultant."
Plenty of American political operatives find there's a lucrative market for their services in the country.
One candidate in Ukraine's 2010 presidential election, for example, made the American political consultants working on his campaign a major selling point.
Much of the money that works its way into politics in Ukraine comes from the energy sector-perhaps the most lawless corner of the economy.
https://www.gq.com/story/ukraine-us-political-scandals-including-trump-impeachment-inquiry
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