The Marlboro Men Of Chernivtsi Summary

The Soviet Union collapsed nearly 30 years ago, but many of the former Soviet republics are still struggling to find its place in the modern world. In The Marlboro Men of Chernivtsi by Andrew W. Jones from the Morning News, Jones recalls an eye-opening experience he had in Ukraine in which he unknowing got involved in a minor cigarette smuggling operation. The experience leads him into researching about the causes of international cigarette smuggling and its effects on Eastern Europe. The story begins with the author recollecting the memories of his trip to Chernivtsi where he was asked to smuggle a carton of cigarettes from Ukraine to Romania. Jones initially thought he was doing the bus driver a small favor, but soon finds himself involved in a minor cigarette smuggling operation. The author realizes that it was already too late to back out of the operation and
Through his research the author uncovers that many of the Eastern European countries are economically impoverished. Many of these countries have been struggling to move forward culturally and economically after the collapse of the Communist Soviet regime. Ever since The Orange Revolution, the protest against the corrupt 2004 presidential election, Ukraine has struggled to recover culturally and economically. “Between 2005 and 2015 Ukrainians have seen wild swings in their economic fortunes and the notion of a stable economy has seemed like an illusion.” (97). Cigarette smuggling in Ukraine is largely due to years of economic failure; the people of Ukraine are willing to any lengths to make a few extra bucks. In The Marlboro Men of Chernivtsi, the author argues that Ukraine’s lack of economic success is the main reason cigarette smuggling is so popular. Although the main subject of the essay was cigarette smuggling it points to a much larger issue, Ukraine’s lack of economic stability in the past