title: Ukraine as a Cusp State
abstract: This chapter explores the dynamics behind the formation of Ukraine as a Cusp State and the impact of Ukraine's cuspness on its capacity to adopt Euro-peanizing reforms in the country's domestic sociopolitical structure and external orientation. It argues that unlike its neighbours, which are fully integrated into the EU or those which are replicas of post-Soviet Russia, Ukraine is a Cusp State between the EU and Russia. Ukraine's existence as a 'borderland' country defines its internal make-up a