Oligarchs might not be anybody’s first pick as rulers, but they emerge as the default choice in the no-man’s-land between the EU and Russia. Experts at navigating a space that is strongly contested but poorly regulated, oligarchs today form a golden bridge of communication between two increasingly opposing camps.
Twenty years ago, voters in Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine elected either seasoned, lightly rebranded Communist Party apparatchiks or nationalist firebrands. A decade ago, when the EU was more optimistic about its future and seemed within reach for its Eastern neighbors, they opted for smooth-talking, pro-European reformers.
