Inside Ukraine

Here's a great inside look at some of the power struggles that proceeded the 2nd election and protests in the Ukraine in November. It was the choice between crackdown and backing off.
Daniel Drezner blogged about this in November and said

When a government facing a popular uprising, there is a moment when all of Burke's "pleasing illusions" about power fade away, and the rulers face a choice between using raw coercion or backing down. At this juncture, there is one of three possibilities:

1) The leadership backs down;
2) The leadership cracks down;
3) The leadership tries to crack down but the coercive apparatus splits.

Read the NYT article. Very interesting.