The talk will analyze principal changes and continuities in the evolution of Ukraine statehood over the last twenty years. It will demonstrate how the state transformed from an object of elite predation in the early 1990s into the instrument for waging elite struggles at the end of 2000s. Throughout the two decades the dominance of informal institutions of rent-seeking, patronage and coercion prevented the transformation of Ukraine into a modern developed state. As a result, the legitimacy of Ukrainian statehood has become more dubious now than it was two decades ago.
Serhij Kudelja is professor of political science at Kyiv Mohyla Academy in Ukraine where he teaches courses on theories of democracy and politics of authoritarian regimes. He also taught courses on post-Soviet politics at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Toronto. From 2008 to 2009 Kudelja served as an advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine. He holds PhD from Johns Hopkins University and MA from Stanford.
Moderation: Professor Dr. Alexander Wöll