David Marples

David Marples is Distinguished University Professor in the Department of History and Classics, University of Alberta, Canada. For summer 2014 he is Visiting Professor at the Slavic and Eurasian Research Center, Hokkaido University, Japan. Follow him on Twitter @drmarples

Poroshenko's choices

In theory, with a new parliamentary coalition, Poroshenko can now address Ukraine’s two most pressing problems — Donbas and the economy. But his position is weaker than it appears.

By David Marples

/ 11 Nov 2014

@FuckingPutin

The rhetoric of hatred describing the situation in Ukraine misses the point – Ukraine has problems that are not derived from Russia or the Putin presidency. на русском языке.

By David Marples

/ 22 Aug 2014

The Ukrainian army is unprepared for war

The Ukrainian army is corrupt and badly prepared for war, with either the Donetsk People's Republic or Russia. на русском языке

By David Marples and Myroslava Uniat

/ 6 Aug 2014

Long live the Donetsk People’s Republic!

What will ‘Defence Minister’ Strelkov do, now that Slovyansk has been lost? And can he rely on Vladimir Putin?

By David Marples

/ 8 Jul 2014

Igor Strelkov – Moscow agent or military romantic?

Who is Igor Strelkov? He has power, but by whose authority?

By David Marples

/ 13 Jun 2014

Crimean Tatars – tragic past and uncertain present

News coverage of the current dramatic situation in Crimea has so far had little to say about the Tatars. Their history has been one of repression and deportation, but they should not be overlooked.

By David Marples and David F. Duke

/ 3 Mar 2014

Ukraine: the view from the west

What is happening in Ukraine has provoked outrage and shock in the west. But do we really understand what we’re talking about?

By David Marples

/ 20 Feb 2014

Ukraine’s choices

The current conflict in Ukraine tends to cast the country’s future choices in terms of membership of either the EU or the Russian Customs Union. The former is unlikely and the latter unworkable. But there could be other ways forward, contends David Marples

By David Marples

/ 9 Dec 2013

‘Minsk bombers’ executed: the questions that remain

Sometime between 11-16 March, the two men accused of planting a bomb on the Minsk underground were executed with a bullet to the back of the head. Amid suspicions that the Belarusian authorities may in fact have been behind the original explosion, their show trial and subsequent killing leave us w

By David Marples

/ 26 Mar 2012

Is Ukraine heading East?

On the eve of an EU-Ukraine summit on December 19, Ukraine’s relations with Brussels are deteriorating. EU officials have warned that the detention of opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko is damaging Kiev’s hopes of signing an Association Agreement by the end of the year. Meanwhile, Ukraine is consi

By David Marples

/ 17 Dec 2011

Bankruptcy and privatisation: the end of Lukashenka’s Belarus?

A failed economic model and falling transit subsidies from Russia have propelled the Belarusian economy to the brink. The harsh reality of stopgap sales and emergency loans that awaits will only delay the inevitable, writes David Marples.

By David Marples

/ 25 Oct 2011

Belarus: the president's dilemma

A dramatic devaluation of the national currency has combined with international isolation to plunge the usually reliable Belarus deep in a sea of instability. The crisis is unlikely to seriously threaten President Lukashenka's position, says David Marples. But the country may yet have to pay a hig

By David Marples

/ 1 Jun 2011