Since 1991 independent Ukraine has emerged as a vital new factor in global politics. With a territory and population among the largest in Europe, a crucial geopolitical location, and substantial economic resources, Ukraine was quickly recognized as a potential regional power. Burdened with a Soviet legacy of economic mismanagement, inexperience in self-government, and the world's third-largest nuclear arsenal, Ukraine also was viewed by many as a possible threat to regional stability.
Zbigniew Brzezinski, Borys Tarasyuk, and twelve other international specialists examine the development of Ukraine's foreign policy and external relations after 1991, its role in rapidly changing regional security arrangements, and the country's path to denuclearization.
