Kurenkov I.G. The problem of intra-elite conflicts in modern Ukraine

Abstract: This article examines the problem of intra-elite conflicts in Ukraine during the period of 1991-2005. Special attention is given to the trends and peculiarities of the establishment of political elites in Ukraine. Within the framework of this research, the author notes that the struggle of various actors for political power in Ukraine was determined by a number of factors, including the history of the country that explains the emergence of powerful actors of regional scale and fragmented elites and fairly high cost of crushing the opposition, which led to a series of punishing agreements, and limitations from the political institutions. The article demonstrates that the fusion of business and politics in Ukraine poses a threat to domestic security of the nation and undermines the authorities’ ability to democratically govern, since in majority of cases it is the economic interests that determine the political behavior, and interconnections between political players become hostages of agreements between oligarchs.

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