Really long day, sorry for the delay. I understand the foreign policy position for Ukrainian neutrality - not seeking to be part of any western apparatus so as not to antagonize Russia - but is that really independence? Seeking EU or NATO membership should rest with the nation, not a predetermined middle ground.
Most corrupt country in history? No, not even close. I don't have time to go through the history of rulers who have lined their pockets from the public treasury, or lined up cronies to benefit. I will say you can't drop billions into a country (whether it's Afghanistan, Ukraine or the United States) and not have a significant fraud component. Just look at the COVID relief spending, such as the PPP lending program, and see the number of fraud cases in our nation.
Most corrupt today? Not even close. An entire swath of African countries are far more corrupt. Central American countries, led by Mexico are almost universally more corrupt, with Costa Rica standing apart. A handful of South American countries have languished despite incredible natural resources, are more or similarly corrupt as Ukraine. The old joke about Argentina always being the nation with the most potential, but they can't get out of their own way. All of these push Ukraine - today - to the middle of the pack. The "stans", through much of the Indian subcontinent and down through southeast Asia (Myanmar gets an honorable mention) - many more corrupt.
I haven't even mentioned the truly corrupt nations like North Korea, Iran, Venezuela, Russia, Iraq.
China? We were fools to invest in that nation, and allow Chinese companies to list on U.S. exchanges. They are hiding their true financial condition, and their human rights abuses are incredible. As U.S. manufacturing trends out of China, inflation is going to be a bear as the free lunch runs out.
Is Ukraine even the most corrupt former soviet bloc country? No, look to Belarus and others.
