Ukraine Crisis: What It Means for the West Paperback – November 4, 2014

I just finished (finally) reading this intriguing book. I found it fascinating in many ways and also informative about things I only had very vague understandings of. The writer is certainly pro-Ukraine and it is shown in the subject matter, but he does write well and gives many examples to the points he wishes to make and does an overall excellent job in trying to explain a lot of things about what has happened in Ukraine the last few years...a lot more than most news media organizations even slightly touch. kudos!

The title is misleading. There is really very little about the crisis and what little there is, is way too subjective. Of course Wilson briefed the Chief of the Defence Staff at 10 Downing Street on his return and that tends to lessen his integrity in my opinion. He simply accepts what Kiev says and does. He also seems to understand very little of the history of the region before its independence.The best part of the books if the early chapters where Wilson gives a good summary of the machinations of the various government and prime ministers who help power prior to the Maidan Riots. He demonstrates how the Oligarchs arose and gained so much power and influence in the country. He deals very well with the history of the endemic corruption in the country This is by far the best part of the book, but if you are interested in the crisis itself and what is behind it and what it means you will need to look elsewhere. This is not the book for you.A better book which is also more current is Richard Sakwa, FRONTLINE. It actually deals with the Donbas revolt is detail and explains more cogently the differences between the regions. Please see my review of this book.

Written in a concise "foreign correspondent" style, it deals with the players and places mentioned in the news about the Russian separatist war in the Ukraine and the danger of a Russian takeover of the Baltic states. Also gives an understanding of how and why a ground to air missile shot down a Malayan passenger plane over Eastern Ukraine.

Goes into good detail about diplomacy but this guy is biased against Putin even though he talks about the far right Parties that are killing ethnic Russians and Hungarians in Ukraine. I had to get a book on the Ukraine crisis to do a paper on it. I wanted to write an essay defending Putin's actions in Ukraine but couldn't find one so i settled for this:/

The book provides precise account of the events, and also gives some thoughts on the reasons for various developments. The coherent and well argumented analysis of historical events is always very engaging and educational. I happy I bought it!

The book is informative, but, in light of the controversial nature of the crisis in Ukraine it is extremely one-sided and for the most part does not deal with the most defining stage of the crisis - its origins within Ukraine. Richard Sakwa's book on the same subject, which I also bought through amazon, was much more balanced.

A quick read that details many of the recent events, up to mid-2014 and the MK17 shoot down--which the Kremlin is now admitting was by a BUK Russian missile--altho blaming Kiev. Has many details of corruption before and after Maiden--and the developing efforts of the youngsters to change their world and hunt down the money and the weak structures--and CHANGE!

A thorough, comprehensive review of the situation in Ukraine. Andrew Wilson cites many sources in a revealing view of the corruption of Yanokovich, the support of political technocrats of Russia and of the escalating conflict in Crimea and Eastern Ukraine with the same characters supported by the Russian Government. A great insight into Putin's alternative reality created by RT.

Several noted historians and political commentators are known to have spent time in Kiev at the time of the 2013-14 Euromaidan demonstrations and since, presumably with a view to a book. On the basis of his 2005  Ukraine's Orange Revolution , in which he revealed in fascinating detail how the Yanukovich camp corrupted the first two rounds of the 2004 presidential election, Andrew Wilson's is the one I most looked forward to. He has produced 'Ukraine Crisis: What it means for the West' remarkably quickly, and although ongoing events mean that it will require revision and updating correspondingly soon, it is a valuable record and explanation of the Euromaidan Revolution and its aftermath.Before taking up the book, I had three so-far unanswered questions in mind. Who was controlling and manipulating one or more of the mobile telephone networks such that anyone with a switched-on mobile `phone who approached the Maidan received a message informing them that their location had been noted and that if they did not quickly leave they would be registered as a criminal? Who were the rooftop snipers (who mostly, but not exclusively, targeted people demonstrating against the Yanukovich regime)? And why did Yanukovich flee Kiev (and ultimately Ukraine) when he did?My first question remains unanswered; Wilson has apparently not so far learned much about the electronic surveillance that was going on. But his answer to my second is comprehensive, and not quite what I expected. He states as fact that the 20th February snipers were Ukrainian, under Yanukovich's personal control. However, there was an airlift of Russian munitions into Kiev on 20th January (the first shootings were on 22nd January); [Russian] FSB agents had been in Kiev since December; more arrived on 20th February; and that 'Russia had done this kind of thing before' - in Abkhazia in 2004 and Georgia in 2011.As for my third query: 'Yanukovich actually fled because he had finished packing.' This was at 4.00am on Saturday 22nd February, just hours after signing an agreement with the opposition parties that would have left him in power until December. Wilson's view is that Yanukovich's highest priority was preserving what he could of his wealth. The packing had been going on since Wednesday 19th.That much we can accept, but I feel my question remains essentially unanswered. We still don't know what caused Yanukovich and some other members of his 'Family' to take the decision to pack and go. Many left Kiev on Thursday 20th, so it seems a panic button was pressed sometime in the 24 hours before that.But what of the rest of the book, especially the sub-title, 'What it means for the West'? The factual background Wilson provides reaches far beyond Ukraine and the period of Maidan occupation following Yanukovich's 21st November decree suspending preparation of an Association Agreement with the European Union. Besides extending into the past, he continues the story through the annexation of Crimea, uprisings in the Donbas, a failed attempt at the same in Odessa, and the shooting down of the MH17 flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on 17th July. He goes a little beyond that, but the book - published 3rd October - evidently went to press before the 5th September Minsk Protocol, or ceasefire agreement, was signed. Inevitably, there is much on recent Russian politics, Russia's actions in relation to its several neighbouring countries, and President Vladimir Putin.Nevertheless, we finish the book still as unsure as everyone else on what, apart from continuation of his own position of internal power and popularity, Putin is aiming to achieve. His policy 'was made up of a mixture of opportunism and flawed historical mythology', writes Wilson, quoting a Russian political technologist whose identity he withholds; "all options are open, but there is no Plan A".It is no criticism of the book that some questions remain unanswered, at least for the moment. We are provided with the background against which to frame at least some ongoing developments, and I for one expect - most unusually - to be a willing customer for a revised and updated edition of this book, when the time comes. Ukraine's Orange Revolution

The author Andrew Wilson, is clearly an expert in post-Soviet politics.I greatly value his analysis, of where we have been & where we are going.I look forward to reading his future books.

This book gives you a good coverage to the build up and background to these events, you do not get this kind of stuff quite in the same way in the every day media

The book is compact but still detailed enough to describe and analyse the political developments that led to the uprising on the Maidan, the annexation of Crimea and the war in Donbas. The author has deep insight and a clear analytic mind. Hence I can recommend the book to everyone interested in Eastern Europe and Ukraine in particular.

The book is extremely subjective and ignores the mistakes and misjudgement of the U.S. and Western European countries.