that it allows major decisions to be made without a great deal of external scrutiny. Nothing good would ever happen – and certainly not for the US. These countries' global economic and financial significance has grown rapidly, yet they have relatively little representation at the Fund. A package of reforms has been agreed. In effect, the administration tried to make the IMF more interesting, particularly to encourage Republicans in the House of Representatives to support the reforms. The latest indications are that the Republicans will not be so enticed. Not an inch. And yet, as Ukrainians work to rebuild our country after Viktor Yanukovych's predatory rule, we are facing a new threat, in the form of a "peace offensive" – that old staple of Soviet diplomacy designed to