You're reading: The American Spectator: Moving Ukraine’s democracy forward

Back in 2004, when thousands of young people gathered in the central square of Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, Americans cheered, for it looked as if democracy had spring full-blown upon the departure of long-time strongman Leonid Kuchma.

From this distance it seemed that Ukrainians were speaking with one voice, but they weren’t. As in any democracy there are many voices to be heard and since then, many have been heard, often in disagreement with one another. Fewer than two dozen years have passed since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the emergence of independent governments among its former components.