The "moment' in which regimes may be transformed.

As we know too well, authoritarian regimes work persistenly to reproduce themselves. On occasion, during moments of crisis,dissent emerges in the very bowels of the regime. This is precisely what happened in the Ukraine when--on a heels of a awkwardly manipulated election--the generals and colonels of the security apparatus and the army split over whether to protect the incumbent autocrat and squash the opposition, or to redefine the political formula and stand with the opposition. It is at such a moment that what seems iron-firm rule turns to fragile plaster. This splendid report captures the internal debate in fascinating detail. The New York Times > International > Europe > Back Channels: A Crackdown Averted: How Top Spies in Ukraine Changed the Nation's Path