Above and Beyond: From Soviet General to Ukrainian State Builder Kostiantyn P. Morozov, with an introduction by Sherman Garnett

Above and Beyond is the first book by a major Ukrainian independence figure to appear in the West and is the first by a former Soviet general to discuss the inner workings of the USSR's military. Morozov provides behind-the-scenes insights on Kuchma, Yeltsin, and other important players still active today. His book will firmly alter our perception of the USSR and its demise, the Soviet military machine, and the rise of modern, independent Ukraine.

In September 1991 Major General Kostiantyn Morozov informed the Soviet Armed Forces Command that he was no longer a Soviet officer, but the new Ukrainian Minister of Defense. He then set out to create the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF), mounting a brilliant campaign to remove from Ukraine military personnel who were not Ukrainian citizens and not loyal to the new Ukrainian state; taking over the Ukrainian-based assets, nuclear and otherwise, of the Soviet Army; and firmly grounding the idea of an independent UAF in the public mind. Within a year of assuming his post, he was overseeing the second-largest army in Europe and the third-largest nuclear arsenal in the world. The shock waves of his efforts were felt throughout the former Soviet Union, since his efforts ensured the realization of Ukrainian independence.

Morozov guided his forces through a minefield of intrigues as various figures sought to undermine the UAF and subordinate it to the armed forces of the CIS (and, thereby, to Russia). He stood as an important figure in the political landscape for his straightforward candor and total devotion to Ukrainian independence. Morozov's loyalty to Ukraine seemed especially remarkable to those around him because he was ethnically half-Russian (or so he thought), spoke little Ukrainian in 1991, and came from the eastern part of Ukraine, long thought to be faithful to Russian rule. His memoirs trace the personal development that allowed a determined young man of humble origins to rise through the Soviet military, while keeping intact a strong moral vision and love of country.

Above and Beyond will be of interest to all those who have followed the fall of the Soviet Union and the rise of the newly independent states. It also will engage all those interested in Soviet military history the new armed forces in Ukraine.

Kostiantyn Petrovych Morozov was the first Minister of Defense of independent Ukraine (from September 1991 to October 1993). After his retirement from that post, he was a senior research fellow at Harvard University's Ukrainian Research Institute and Kennedy School of Government, a Minister-Counselor of the Embassy of Ukraine in Brussels for Relations with NATO and Deputy Head of the Ukrainian Mission to NATO. He currently is Ukraine's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Iran.

Sherman Garnett is the Dean of James Madison College at Michigan State University. He has served in the U.S. Department of Defense and Central Intelligence Agency, and was a Senior Associate for Russia, Ukraine, and Poland at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He is the author of Keystone in the Arch: Ukraine and the Emerging Security Environment of Eastern and Central Europe (1997).

© Ukraine-Today.com