{"id":9587,"date":"2014-05-05T10:08:12","date_gmt":"2014-05-05T14:08:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/creative.clemson.edu\/clemsonworld\/?p=9587"},"modified":"2014-05-05T10:08:12","modified_gmt":"2014-05-05T14:08:12","slug":"revolution-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/revolution-ukraine\/","title":{"rendered":"Revolution in Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"<div   data-size='no scaling'  data-lightbox_size='large'  data-animation='slide'  data-conditional_play=''  data-ids='9604,9606,9602,9605,9603'  data-video_counter='0'  data-autoplay='true'  data-bg_slider='false'  data-slide_height=''  data-handle='av_slideshow'  data-interval='6'  data-class=' avia-builder-el-0  el_before_av_hr  avia-builder-el-first  '  data-el_id=''  data-css_id=''  data-scroll_down=''  data-control_layout=''  data-custom_markup=''  data-perma_caption=''  data-autoplay_stopper=''  data-image_attachment=''  data-min_height='0px'  class='avia-slideshow avia-slideshow-1  av-default-height-applied avia-slideshow-no scaling av_slideshow  avia-builder-el-0  el_before_av_hr  avia-builder-el-first   avia-slide-slider '  itemprop=\"image\" itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\" ><ul class='avia-slideshow-inner ' style='padding-bottom: 66.6197183099%;' ><li  class=' slide-1 ' ><div data-rel='slideshow-1' class='avia-slide-wrap '   ><img src='https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2014\/05\/ukraine-cover-e1398976160509.jpg' width='710' height='473' title='ukraine-cover' alt=''  itemprop=\"thumbnailUrl\"   \/><\/div><\/li><li  class=' slide-2 ' ><div data-rel='slideshow-1' class='avia-slide-wrap '   ><img src='https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2014\/05\/Ukraine-Kapp-Cathcart-e1398976187180.jpg' width='710' height='473' title='Ukraine-Kapp-Cathcart' alt=''  itemprop=\"thumbnailUrl\"   \/><\/div><\/li><li  class=' slide-3 ' ><div data-rel='slideshow-1' class='avia-slide-wrap '   ><img src='https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2014\/05\/ukraine-maidan-guard-e1398976134698.jpg' width='710' height='473' title='ukraine-maidan-guard' alt=''  itemprop=\"thumbnailUrl\"   \/><\/div><\/li><li  class=' slide-4 ' ><div data-rel='slideshow-1' class='avia-slide-wrap '   ><img src='https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2014\/05\/ukraine-tank-e1398976172596.jpg' width='710' height='473' title='ukraine-tank' alt=''  itemprop=\"thumbnailUrl\"   \/><\/div><\/li><li  class=' slide-5 ' ><div data-rel='slideshow-1' class='avia-slide-wrap '   ><img src='https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2014\/05\/ukraine-euro-maidain-e1398976147742.jpg' width='710' height='473' title='ukraine-euro-maidain' alt=''  itemprop=\"thumbnailUrl\"   \/><\/div><\/li><\/ul><div class='avia-slideshow-arrows avia-slideshow-controls'><a href='#prev' class='prev-slide' aria-hidden='true' data-av_icon='\ue87c' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello'>Previous<\/a><a href='#next' class='next-slide' aria-hidden='true' data-av_icon='\ue87d' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello'>Next<\/a><\/div><div class='avia-slideshow-dots avia-slideshow-controls'><a href='#1' class='goto-slide active' >1<\/a><a href='#2' class='goto-slide ' >2<\/a><a href='#3' class='goto-slide ' >3<\/a><a href='#4' class='goto-slide ' >4<\/a><a href='#5' class='goto-slide ' >5<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n<blockquote class=\"oswald rock\" style=\"font-size: 1.5em\"><p>When fellow Clemson alumnus Tom Kapp and I agreed to meet in Kiev on Thursday, February 20, we had no idea that the events of the coming days would consume the entire country and possibly the region at large.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Two days prior, police snipers had begun targeting protestors in downtown Kiev. Some 90 people were killed as the protest reached a fever pitch. I was covering the events for <i>The Daily Beast <\/i>and had been covering the situation in Ukraine since late November, when now-fugitive Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych caved to pressure from Russian President Vladimir Putin and walked away from a trade deal with the European Union that had come to signify Ukraine\u2019s last chance for western European integration.<br \/>\nFor months I had been writing about a new wave of pressure from Moscow, which also led to Armenia\u2019s similar rejection of a EU trade deal. When we arrived in Ukraine, pro-EU demonstrators had been living out in the cold on Kiev\u2019s Maidan Square \u2014 the name that would come to symbolize their EuroMaidan movement \u2014 for three months.<\/p>\n<h3>An Escalating Situation<\/h3>\n<p>On February 18, something changed:\u00a0 Snipers \u2014 by most accounts, police snipers \u2014 began to target protestors. The shots were not intended simply to stop the protestors\u2019 advance or protect the police on the ground. These were kill shots to the head, neck and upper torso. Simultaneously, police under Yanukovych\u2019s command blitzed the Maidan Square from four directions in an attempt to forcibly remove the protestors.<br \/>\nThe protestors, armed with Molotov cocktails, truncheons and riot shields taken from police, began to set fire to everything they could, notably the large stacks of tires they had amassed \u2014 tires burn for a remarkably long time \u2014 in one final effort to hold onto the square. Protestors tossed tents, tires and debris into the flames creating a ring of fire around the square as police moved in with tear gas and flash grenades with nails taped to the outside to make them more deadly. Both sides resorted to extreme measures of violence. Downtown Kiev became a warzone. When we arrived two days later, the fires still burned, but most of the shooting had ceased.<br \/>\nI can only hope that such gunfire will never resume, though 500 miles to the south, Ukraine\u2019s Crimea is about to explode. By the time this goes to print, Ukraine may again be a war zone.\u00a0 [pullquote align=&#8217;right&#8217; font=&#8217;oswald&#8217; color=&#8217;#685C53&#8242;]T<i>he longer we spent in Kiev, the more vigils, flowers and pictures of loved ones began to appear. The tiny glow from thousands of candles soon replaced the smoldering inferno of tires. Violence and mayhem were not the full story.<\/i>[\/pullquote]<br \/>\nWe also witnessed a different side of the EuroMaidan, one that was not represented in the nightly apocalyptic news clips. Paradoxically, there was also a peaceful and generous side to the movement.<br \/>\nAs Tom pointed out, the first thing he received upon arrival at one of Maidan\u2019s improvised checkpoints \u2014 a passageway in the walls of debris manned by Maidan\u2019s own border guards \u2014 was a free sandwich and a smile. EuroMaidan had its own hospital and medical team, its own kitchens and serving tables, and its own security force \u2014 a force that became increasingly ominous and more organized in their hourly patrols marching through the camp.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>At the Tbilisi airport, Headed for Kiev<\/h3>\n<p>In Tbilisi, where I\u2019ve been living for several years, I checked my bullet-proof vest and helmet. The check-in lady wasn\u2019t surprised. The security guard was.<br \/>\n\u201cYou say this is some kind of battle armor?\u201d the security guy with the radio asked. \u201cBullet proof?\u201d The check-in lady assured him in Georgian that it was fine. She\u2019d been down this road. Turns out Western journalists are rather crotchety about their flak jackets being taken away and messed with.<br \/>\n\u201cWe\u2019ve had many similar passengers with this equipment,\u201d she explained reassuringly. I wanted to tell her that this was probably not a good sign for the airline, but I didn\u2019t because she was being sweet, and it was god-awful thirty in the morning, and the process was going oddly swimmingly, especially for a\u00a0 Tbilisi airport.<br \/>\nWhen the shuttle bus got to the airplane, three Georgian police cars were parked on the tarmac beside the aircraft, their blue lights flashing. A twinge of reality \u2014 where I was headed \u2014 began to set in.<\/p>\n<h3>The Constant is Change<\/h3>\n<p>The biggest indicator that I was perhaps in over my head was the earth-shattering booms coming from \u201cenhanced\u201d fireworks which the protestors were testing out that morning in preparation for another possible night raid by riot police.\u00a0 The front doors of the hotel were locked and barricaded. To get inside via the only functioning side door, I had to enter the Maidan checkpoint, guarded by extremely serious characters in full armor comprised of random equipment like knee pads, Kevlar, face masks, second-hand fireproof military jackets and orange construction hats. The coming days would reveal every possible random variation of these uniforms.<br \/>\n[pullquote align=&#8217;left&#8217; font=&#8217;oswald&#8217; color=&#8217;#685C53&#8242;]I quickly learned that the only thing constant about EuroMaidan (and now it seems Ukraine at large) is change \u2014 change at an astonishing rate.[\/pullquote] By Saturday, the country\u2019s president had fled, wanted for the murder of almost 90 people. That night we watched the freshly released Yulia Tymoshenko roll her wheelchair onto the EuroMaidan stage and address the crowd after three years in prison. Tymoshenko, who also has a questionable past, wasted no time. Representatives from her party, which was one of the central three EuroMaidan opposition parties, now held the top two positions in the country. Yet this wasn\u2019t the Orange Revolution part two. Tymoshenko\u2019s \u201cFatherland\u201d party had not taken over the government. EuroMaiden, the movement, had, and protestors were quick to tell me that Tymoshenko was not their leader. Many didn\u2019t support her at all.<br \/>\nThe future of Ukraine remains uncertain, and the fate of Crimea looks more ominous by the hour. It will take more than competent leadership to unite Ukraine and simultaneously save its economy. All parties involved, especially Putin \u2014 but also the United States and Ukraine \u2014 are going to have to swallow their pride, or we may have a conflict on our hands far larger than the one brooding in Crimea.<br \/>\n<div   class='hr hr-short hr-center   avia-builder-el-1  el_after_av_slideshow  el_before_av_hr '><span class='hr-inner ' ><span class='hr-inner-style'><\/span><\/span><\/div><br \/>\nWill Cathcart is a former media adviser to the president of the republic of Georgia and former managing editor of the <i>Charleston Mercury<\/i> newspaper. A contributor to <i>The Daily Beast<\/i>, he works in media and business development in the Black Sea region.<br \/>\n<div   class='hr hr-default   avia-builder-el-2  el_after_av_hr  el_before_av_hr '><span class='hr-inner ' ><span class='hr-inner-style'><\/span><\/span><\/div><\/p>\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/clemson.world\/economic-overview-ukraine-critical-juncture\/\">\u00a0An Economic Overview of Ukraine at a Critical Juncture<\/a><\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/clemson.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/ukraine-euro-maidain-e1398976147742.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-9603 size-square\" src=\"https:\/\/clemson.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/ukraine-euro-maidain-e1398976147742-180x180.jpg\" alt=\"ukraine-euro-maidain\" width=\"180\" height=\"180\" srcset=\"https:\/\/clemsonworld.wpenginepowered.com\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2014\/05\/ukraine-euro-maidain-e1398976147742-180x180.jpg 180w, https:\/\/clemsonworld.wpenginepowered.com\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2014\/05\/ukraine-euro-maidain-e1398976147742-80x80.jpg 80w, https:\/\/clemsonworld.wpenginepowered.com\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2014\/05\/ukraine-euro-maidain-e1398976147742-36x36.jpg 36w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 180px) 100vw, 180px\" \/><\/a>Nationalism often has been a force of political deadlock and economic stagnation. In a place like Quebec, it is possible for voters to decide they are wearisome of separatism and it is time their elected officials focus on economic growth and job creation. In Ukraine, things are much more complicated. One third of Ukrainian exports go to Russia, and the country depends on Russian energy to produce most of its goods. Decades of dependence have nurtured a wasteful and tangled economy, and now Russia is doing everything in its power to undermine the new Ukrainian government.<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/clemson.world\/economic-overview-ukraine-critical-juncture\/\">Read more . . .<\/a><br \/>\n<div   class='hr hr-default   avia-builder-el-3  el_after_av_hr  avia-builder-el-last '><span class='hr-inner ' ><span class='hr-inner-style'><\/span><\/span><\/div><\/p>\n<h4><a title=\"STEPHEN MILLER OP-ED\" href=\"http:\/\/newsstand.clemson.edu\/opinion-the-standoff-in-crimea-a-familiar-story-with-no-easy-resolution-for-u-s-interests\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">OPINION: The standoff in Crimea: A familiar story with no easy resolution for U.S. interests<\/a><\/h4>\n<p><em><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-square wp-image-10564\" src=\"http:\/\/clemsonworld.wpengine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/steven-miller-e1394458796119-180x180.jpeg\" alt=\"steven-miller-e1394458796119\" width=\"180\" height=\"180\" srcset=\"https:\/\/clemsonworld.wpenginepowered.com\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2014\/05\/steven-miller-e1394458796119-180x180.jpeg 180w, https:\/\/clemsonworld.wpenginepowered.com\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2014\/05\/steven-miller-e1394458796119-80x80.jpeg 80w, https:\/\/clemsonworld.wpenginepowered.com\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2014\/05\/steven-miller-e1394458796119-36x36.jpeg 36w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 180px) 100vw, 180px\" \/>Steven V. Miller, Assistant Professor of Political Science, tells why President Obama should not overreact to Russian\/Ukraine crisis, offers solutions on what United States can do.<\/em><br \/>\nOn Feb. 22, the Euromaidan protests in Ukraine resulted in a parliamentary vote to remove Viktor Yanukovych as President. The vote passed with 73 percent approval of Ukraine\u2019s MPs. The Russian government responded three days later with a show of approximately 150,000 soldiers on Ukraine\u2019s border. Within one week, the Russian military had put into motion a de facto occupation of Crimea that escalated in tone this past Monday, when Russia demanded the surrender of Ukraine\u2019s defense forces in Crimea. The new government in Ukraine has not granted this wish from the Kremlin and it does not appear as if it will. This situation looks to only deteriorate within the coming days.<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/newsstand.clemson.edu\/opinion-the-standoff-in-crimea-a-familiar-story-with-no-easy-resolution-for-u-s-interests\/\">Read more . . .<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When fellow Clemson alumnus Tom Kapp and I agreed to meet in Kiev on Thursday, February 20, we had no idea that the events of the coming days would consume the entire country and possibly the region at large. Two days prior, police snipers had begun targeting protestors in downtown Kiev. Some 90 people were [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":9604,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[906,1129,1132,1134,1731,1850,2480,2691,3133],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-9587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-daily-beast","tag-eu","tag-euromaidan","tag-european-union","tag-kiev","tag-maidan-square","tag-russia","tag-spring-2014","tag-ukraine"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2014\/05\/ukraine-cover-e1398976160509.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9587"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9587\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9587"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=9587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}