Cleft countries

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During the “Orange Revolution” in Ukraine, the country faced potential violent disintegration similar to Moldova's experience with the Transdniestria region. Elections, particularly the contentious 2004 presidential race, and public opinion surveys revealed stark regional divisions in these post-Soviet nations. In the western parts of Ukraine and Moldova, alongside the Muslim Crimean Tatars, there was strong support for independence and pro-Western sentiments. Conversely, the Eastern regions and the Orthodox Turkic-speaking Gagauz leaned towards pro-Russian and pro-Communist ideologies. The book explores the factors behind these divisions—historical legacies, religion, economy, ethnicity, and political leadership—and investigates why Ukraine managed to avoid a violent breakup unlike Moldova. It presents a systematic and comparative analysis of regional political divisions in both countries, focusing on voting behavior and political attitudes in regions influenced by different historical rulers, such as Russian, Ottoman, Soviet, Austro-Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, and Czechoslovak. The study attributes these political divisions to variations in historical experiences, providing insights into regional cleavages and conflicts not only in Ukraine and Moldova but also in other divided nations.