Ukraine’s Move to the West

This book examines the intervention of global elite networks in the context of Ukraine’s EU-IMF deal within the overall ‘Euromaidan moment’ (late 2013–early 2014). It develops an empirically grounded investigation focused on three sets of modalities within the EU-IMF package during this time period – namely, GM agriculture (biotechnology), hydraulic fracking and an internationally enabled regime change – as proposed solutions for urgent problems confronting Ukraine. There is a particular spotlight on the intersections between corporate actors, political players, foundations and think tanks in the reproduction of particular constellations of power between Western (particularly U.S.-based) networks and Ukrainian agents and intermediaries. The complexity of social dynamics allow for multiple forms of power to operate at once in this space of international politics. This book details and analyses how the global elite network operating around Ukraine at this time produced the three unusual outcomes associated with the agreed EU-IMF policy agenda (GM agriculture, fracking and a regime change). It contributes to the analysis of how global elite networks operate and power works in international relations, and also enhances how the tumultuous politics of Ukraine in the current century are understood.
The subject of this book is fairly controversial and is a high-profile current political problem. Looking at these issues through the analytical framework of social networks brings forward a welcomed investigation into agency in international studies. The attention to personal and political ties of mutual interdependence differs from more commonly used mainstream accounts of global politics that rely on ‘US versus Russia’ narratives or on corporate elites pursuing business deals. This book shows how close ties of social acquaintance and political-economic compacts prove crucial to understanding how the key issue areas evolved. This book advances the understanding of how power works in international politics, showing how it is built through different forms. It also advances the understanding of how global elite networks are formed and operate, along with specific investigation into the importance of gatekeepers, and thus explains the international political economy of Ukraine at a key moment and should prove invaluable to many academic and popular explanations.