What's in a Name

The first Ukrainian I met was in 1960. It was then that I learned that he was from Ukraine. I was from The United States. He was NOT from The Ukraine. In fact there is no The Ukraine despite what politicians and TV personalities insist. It is akin to calling Argentina The Argentine. Now The United States of America is really a place, we are in it right now.

When in Prague in 1997 I met a Ukrainian General, looking to do business with us. That is when I learned that they called is U-kraine, stress the u.

Western Ukrainian is like Polish and Eastern Ukrainian is like Russia, the words and pronunciation that is. This not akin to New York dialects versus Alabama dialects, really different stuff. Ukraine is an amalgam of territory that has shifted hands for centuries. As Americans we must remember that what we see today was not always the case. But alas education fails us.

Now I will not touch this current discussion with the proverbial ten foot pole. Just to note perhaps we can tell some folks the name of the country. Yet the grinding misuse of the name tells more than any of the testimony.

Also, the State Department, well that is for a discussion over a good single malt in a bar in Warsaw!