Oliver Schmidtke is Associate Professor of Political Science and History, and Serhy Yekelchyk is Associate Professor of Slavic Studies and History, both at the University of Victoria.

"It must be indispensable reading for newcomers, for anybody who is just approaching the region, whether as a student, as a policy-maker, or as a specialist in some other areas interested in comparison." - Canadian Slavonic Papers/Revue canadienne des slavistes "This is an outstanding book that deserves a wide audience of historians, sociologists, political scientists, and specialists in east European and Slavic studies. The essays hang together and speak to some of the most important themes of contemporary politics in the region, politics that have enduring historical relevance." - Slavic Review

• Introduction - Oliver Schmidtke& Serhy Yekelchyk * Out of Russia_s Long Shadow - Serhy Yekelchyk * From Soviet Ukraine to the Orange Revolution - Natalie Mychajlyszyn * Belarus in the Lukashenka Era - Per Anders Rudling * Post-Soviet Moldova_s National Identity and Foreign Policy - Steven D. Roper * The Donbas: The Last Frontier of Europe? - Hiroaki Kuromiya * In the Minority in Moldova - Hülya Demirdirek * The Promise of Europe - Oliver Schmidtke & Constantin Chira-Pascanut * Taking Ukraine Seriously - Derek Fraser * The Failed Revolution - David R. Marples * EU_Russia Relations and the Repercussions on the _In-betweens_ - Stefan Gänzle