EuroMaidan Revolution
Alexander J. Motyl: Rethinking the Euro Revolution and the Yanukovych regime
Protesters hold photos of Tetyana Chornovil, popular Ukrainian journalist and opposition activist, during the picket at the Internal Affairs Ministry in Kiev on December 25, 2013. Tetyana was beaten by unknown people after they attacked her car last night. Protesters demand the minister Vitaliy Zakharchenko's resignation as they link the attack to Chornovil with her professional activities directed by harsh criticism of authorities and accused the police and other security services in the organization of this and few other attacks on opposition activists last week.AFP PHOTO / SERGEI SUPINSKY
The Euro Revolution and the Yanukovych regime’s shameful deal with Putin’s Russia are as momentous conceptually as they are politically, requiring a new way of thinking about what has transpired in Ukraine and how Ukraine may be best understood. Now more than ever, as the regime attempts to redefine reality according to its twisted Orwellian categories, calling things by their rights names is imperative. Here’s a brief primer. The key terms are: declaration of independence, social contract, freedom, legitimacy, tyranny, occupation, colony, resistance movement,and national-liberation struggle.
