Linguistically challenged

摘要

For anyone writing about Ukraine, language is always a problem. Not the Ukrainian that is favoured in the west of the country, nor the Russian that is still spoken in the east, but the language used to describe the country's politics. The usual terms simply do not apply. With Viktor Yanukovych, a thuggish president, in charge and his arch-rival, Yu-lia Tymoshenko, in jail, Ukraine is clearly not a democracy. But it is not a dictatorship either. Political power is a means of enrichment rather than governance. Street protests are scarce not because of fear of re- pression but because Ukraine is increasingly atomised. Opposition politicians are an extension of the business groups they claim to fight. Rules are flexible, allegiances fluid and the idea of an elite-a class of people responsible for the country-is almost meaningless.