Since 1991, Ukraine has experienced periods of hopefulness and even triumph, but it has also had to endure trials and troubles well beyond what anyone could have imagined when the Soviet Union suddenly collapsed and an independent country was born. No ordeal, of course, is greater than the current one: Russia’s invasion in February 2022 began a war that rages on and that threatens, with each passing day, to engulf Europe, and the U.S., in a geopolitical contest for supremacy—even as the Ukrainians themselves fight bravely to preserve their territory and sovereignty.
In “Battleground Ukraine,” Adrian Karatnycky seeks to trace Ukraine’s evolution as a “political nation” in the post-Soviet era. The result is a fascinating and highly informative narrative that will help all of us understand what is going on in Ukraine right now and what is at stake—and also how Ukraine reached this critical point in its history. Mr. Karatnycky, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, has been studying Ukraine for decades and is especially well placed to tell its story and offer a convincing analysis of the fateful turns in Ukraine’s past as well as a picture of its possible future.