East European Solutions

The adventure of independence began abuptly for Ukraine. Instead of smooth sailing, the Ukrainian ship of state encountered strong gales in the form of constitutional crises, economic woes, unwelcome interference by strong neighbors and a persistent inability-born of 70 years of Communist utopia-to get organized, to get things done and to distinguish between easily achievable goals and wholly preposterous whims. These problems have stifled her growth, frustrated her citizens and made her vulnerable to foreign intervention of the most insidious kind. Still, the people of Ukraine have one thing going for them: the art of the East European Solution. By applying the coping skills of Stalinism to every challenge, from buying bread in the morning to negotiating the mine field of relations with Ukraine's intrusive neighbors, the East European Solution allows both the body politic and its most insignificant members to muddle through and stay alive-if only to see what challenges tomorrow may have in store. In his decade and a half of exploring Eastern Europe as a student, traveler, trader and consultant, the author has had the opportunity of getting an inside view of this process. Along the way, he has made the acquaintance of people from all walks of life, from professors to pedlers, market sellers to blackmarketeers, lawyers to law enforcement, retired KGB officers to veterans of the USSR's war in Afghanistan-each, in their turn and according to their circumstances, masters of the East European Solution.