The collapse of the Soviet Union added a large new country-Ukraine-to the map of Europe. With its endowment of natural resources and skilled population of 52 million, Ukraine can play a major role in European and world affairs. How an independent Ukraine evolves internally and the foreign policies it adopts will have considerable impact on Europe, East and West, and the United States.Alexander J. Motyl, an authority on the post-Soviet nations, examines the painful choices confronting Ukraine. He considers Ukraine's troublesome inheritance from the Soviet Union and discusses ways Ukraine might overcome this legacy to build a modern, democratic, and market-oriented state. Motyl advances an evolutionary approach, one that places equal emphasis on economic reform, the creation of democracy and civil society, state-building, and ethnic peace. He also explores Kiev's relations with Moscow, and suggests what the West should-and should not-do to help Ukraine and the other former republics survive their post-imperial and post-totalitarian challenges.