Read the full essay here.
Ukrainians flocked to the Maidan to express a “choice for Europe,” but they may also have forged the beginnings of a new Ukrainian identity. Events in Ukraine present the post–Cold War order in Europe with a challenge deeper than any it has ever seen, and democratic prospects across a vast swath of Eurasia seem cloudier than before as the world wonders how much more “pushback” Vladimir Putin has planned against liberal-democratic forces at home and abroad. Yet there is no reason to let trouble in the eastern reaches of the country impede the larger and necessary work of fitting Ukraine for transparent self-government.