Ukraine’s New President: Washington Post

Comedian and actor Volodymyr Zelensky won Ukraine’s presidential election in a landslide, with some crediting his role as a fictional president in the television show “Servant of the People.” Zelensky's pattern of support upended a divide in place over the past 20 years. “Analysts often depict Ukraine’s politics as a constant struggle between a pro-European West and pro-Russian East,” explain Konstantin Ash and Miroslav Shapovalov for the Washington Post. “There’s more to this analysis. The Kiev International Institute of Sociology classifies Ukraine as having four macro-regions based on shared cultural, economic and historical ties: the East, West, Center and South.” The East has a large ethnic Russian population, and debate over closer alignment with Russia versus the European Union has long divided the nation. The writers describe how Zelensky, embracing neither a pro-Russian nor pro-nationalist agenda, won the Center and the Russian-leaning South, which represent more than half of Ukraine’s population. Zelensky focused on reforms – “simplifying the bureaucracy and tax code, attracting investment, prosecuting corruption and reining in the country’s oligarchic class, while also pushing for eventual membership in NATO and the European Union” – rather than war or language issues. The campaign offers lessons for candidates in other polarized nations. – YaleGlobal