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Wow! The 3-pt margin between Yanukovych and Yushchenko is comparable to the Bush-Kerry margin. And the Ukraine's orange & blue dichotomy is, if anything, even more dramatic than our red & blue cleavage.

Mr Yushchenko's supporters say the authorities oversaw massive fraud in Sunday's election - and independent observers have also reported widespread abuses.

Every news story I have seen thus far uses terms like "massive fraud" and "widespread abuses" -- but without giving any particulars.

How much "fraud", what kind of "abuses"? There seem to be only general assertions, but totally without specific allegations or any evidence. At least, none that has been cited.

Thanks for the map, I have an atlas from 1924 that shows an independent Ukraine, but the Crimea and territory along the northern shore of the Sea of Azov as far north as the Dneiper as being part of Russia. Khrushchev transfered the Crimea (which is mainly Russian ethnically)to the Ukraine in 1956.

I think that your map probably reflects an ethnic division, and I feel it would be unwise for the US to dragged in to guarantee boundaries drawn up by the communists 50 years ago without the consent of those who were affected. I would probably be better for the ethnic Russian areas to reunite with Russia.

This seems to be a very emotional issue here, and I really do not have a dog in this fight. To my knowledge I have neither Russian or Ukrainian blood in my veins. From the standpoint of what is in the best interests of the USA, I cannot help but recall how noisy many EU leaders have been about the need to balance out the American hyperpower. perhaps a greater Russia would serve as a balance to the EU?

It should be recalled that the Ukraine did not allow the interests of the USA to intervene when she transfered the carrier Varyag to China in 2001. URL:
http://www.sinodefence.com/navy/surface/aircraftcarrier.asp

Place your bets. After all it's the end game. This was the first thread to point out the obvious. It's the end game for NATO. And that's why it is also the end game for Moscow.
Forget about negotiated splitting of the Ukraine. What NATO wants, starting with Sevastopol, is located in the wrong half.

This map corresponds exactly with the map in Huntington's book, "The Clash of Civilizations."

The Eastern "blue" half is Orthodox and either of Russian descent or mixed Russian boold. The Western "orange" half os Catholic, more purely Ukranian, and more pro-western. This is the case in many formet Soviet republics, as Moscow intentionally shifted borders and populations to make their satellite republics divided. In this case, they gave the Crimea to Ukraine, and sent Russians to Ukraine. And now Puty is using that excuse to keep them under Russian control.

The more things change, the more they stay the same...

If they're anything like us Americans, they just confused the two candidates' names! I remember that guy who was in 4th place in the CA governors' race because he had a long foreign-sounding name starting with "S". I can't imagine the chaos that would result if we, say, ran a Richard Johnson vs. Richard Jenson.