[Michael Zeleny]

The prerogatives of national autonomy stop short of dictating the grammar of foreign languages. The Ukraine does not choose to call itself anything starting with a definite article, for want of articles in Russian and Ukrainian alike. The fact remains that the meaning of its name requires a definite article when rendered into English, by analogy with The Netherlands. An alternative means of reasserting the nationalist dignity might consist in renaming the independent country, e.g. to Obezglaviya, in keeping with its emergent democratic tradition stipulating decapitation as the proper response to independent journalism.