I. Introduction
This essay will discuss Crimea’s recent annexation to Russia, which has caused much international discourse. The annexation and subsequent occurrences reveal key actors’ political motivations and policies. This essay notes that the Crimean annexation is a multifaceted issue that involves many actors, including the United States and many non-state actors. However, this essay will focus on the European region.
First, this essay will briefly summarise relevant historical factors. Second, it will discuss the Ukrainian position and its options following the violation of its sovereignty. Third, it explains Russia’s motivations for it’s anti-western actions and finally, we discuss European policy. This essay will argue that given historical and geopolitical factors, Crimea’s annexation is not entirely extraordinary. More extraordinary, is Russia’s dismissal of international laws and the sovereignty of the state. The Crimean predicament illustrates an ideological struggle between autocracy and the democratic Western world. It highlights the gap between liberalism and realism; particularly where the two systems try to operate in an entirely interdependent but anarchical world structure.
II. Historical information and the current situation
Dispute regarding the status of the Autonomous Region of Crimea may be traced back centuries. In the mid-1990s Crimea was deemed to be a ‘potential centre of unrest’ (Sasse, 2007), although such instability did not culminate. In the transitional period following the Cold War, Crimea eventually assimilated into Ukrainian polity with minimal conflict (Sasse, 2007). Despite assimilation, the majority of Crimean people viewed themselves as Russian (BBC News, 2014). Along with strong et...
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Polityuk, P & MacDonald, A, ‘Russia says it will respond if Ukraine interests attacked’, Reuters UK, 23 April 2014, accessed at .
Sasse, G, ‘The Crimea Question: Identity, Transition, and Conflict’, Harvard University Press for the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute, 2007.
Vasovic, A & Croft, A, ‘U.S., EU set sanctions as Putin recognises Crimea “sovereignty”’, 17 March 2014, accessed at < http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/17/us-ukraine-crisis-idUSBREA1Q1E820140317>.
Ziabari, K, ‘The Crimean Crisis and U.S. Hypocrisy. “War of Words” to Justify Outright Aggression’, Global Research, accessed at < http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-crimean-crisis-and-us-hypocrisy-war-of-words-to-justify-outright-aggressions/5375928>.
Crockatt, Richard. The fifty years war : the United States and the Soviet Union in world politics, 1941-1991. London; New York; Routledge, 1995.
“The Sources of Soviet Conduct” Foreign Affairs, 1947, explains the difficulty of summarizing Soviet ideology. For more than 50 years, the Soviet concept held the Russian nations hypnotized, discontented, unhappy, and despondent confined to a very limited Czarist political order. Hence, the rebel support of a bloody Revolution, as a means to “social betterment” (Kennan, 567). Bolshevism was conceptualized as “ideological and moral, not geopolitical or strategic”. Hoover declares that… “five or six great social philosophies were struggling for ascendancy” (Leffler, The Specter of Communism, 20).
In 2012, the total population of Luhansk comprised approximately 426,000 people. The majority of city´s industrial companies have established connections with the Donbas coal and steel complex (Gentile, 2015). Generally, almost everyone in Ukraine is able to fluently speak and understand Russian, however, a vast number of people are not able to speak Ukrainian. They have an even problem to understand the language (Himka, 2015). In addition, the eastern part of Ukraine is largely urbanized and for this reason, the region more easily assimilated to use of Russian language (Himka, 2015). From the past, it is known that in the 1990s, approximately one-third of the population of Donetsk proclaimed not to support the addition of the Donbas to Ukraine (Shulman, 1998 as quoted in Gentile, 2015). Especially the Russian minority, people from the east, the retired and the poorest tend to be more pro-Russian oriented. They are even willing to follow stronger bonds with Russia (Kubicek, 2000 as quoted in Gentile, 2015). In one of his speeches, Putin mentioned the gone areas of “Novorossiya” including areas of Donbas and Luhansk, that were ceded to the Ukrainian SSR by the Soviet administration in the 1920s (Allison, 2014). This political situation resulted
Myers, Steven. “Russian Troops Mass at Border with Ukraine.” NY Times Website. March 13, 2014. Accessed May 15, 2014. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/14/world/europe/ukraine.html.
The Modern and Classical strands of liberalism share similar principles – indeed if they did not, it would be wrong to classify them as two strands of the same ideology. It seems the fundamental differences between them rely on the ‘negative’ and ‘positive’ views, which define them and which lead on to the fundamental opposition inherent in liberalism: the role of the state.
...h case the government will be more inclined to respond to it because of this (Robinson 1-2). With Crimea now part of Russia, perhaps the people of Ukraine can have some self-determined actions.
This paper focuses on the protests in Ukraine and seeks to examine the different aspects related to its effect on Ukraine’s relations with the international community. This paper also discusses the role of other political leaders inside Ukraine on the protests and some of the key actors involved. The approach used to write this paper is realistic. Ukraine’s self-interest combined with the economic and military power of Russia is the possible reason of the decision made by Ukraine. As this case basically deals with power and self-interests of countries, realism will best help to understand and comprehend this case.
Although Ukraine has not taken any aggressive action against Russia does not mean they will not has the Ukrainian Ambassador Yuriy Sergeyev said "So far, Ukrainian armed f...
Up until 1954, Ukraine was a crucial and highly profitable member of the USSR. Strategically placed between Russia and the rest of Europe, Ukraine contains many valuable natural gas pipelines. Crimea is autonomously governed peninsula owned by Ukraine, about two and a half time the sizes of the Island of Hawaii. There are roughly twice as many ethnic Russians as there are Ukrainians and the majority feel closer ties to Russia [1]. Anti-government protests turned violent and in late February, the Ukrainian government fired on protestors, killing dozens and wounding hundreds [2]. On March 6th, the leaders of Crimea stated that they intended to join Russia and are planning a vote on March 16th [3].
"'Russia Trying to Create Climate of Chaos in Ukraine'" Global Public Square RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2014.
Crimea’s history with Russia begins in 1783, when it became an annexed state (Taylor). However, to most of those within the western sphere of schooling most commonly learn about Crimea from the Crimean war. It occurred from 1853 to 1856 and involved Russia, Sardinia, France, Britain, and the Ottoman Empire. After three years of arduous fighting Russia eventually lost the war, but it did manage the keep the treasured peninsula. After the fall of the Russian Empire, in 1921 Crimea became “ The Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic” and unquestionably part of the Soviet Union. In the following decades, Crimea much like the rest of Europe endured the strain of the Second World War, but surprisingly in 1945 it was gifted from Russia to the Ukraine. According to Taylor, there are a couple of possi...
I would like to inform you my concerns regarding the uprising internal conflict in the Ukraine that is currently occurring. The internal conflict has consequently resulted in numbers of social movements arising that are opposed against the government decisions, thus creating a snowball effect that is subsequently out of control. A neighboring country, Russia in which Ukraine is dependent on, has also interfered within their internal affair that is presently ongoing. Hence, Russia is trespassing and violating Ukraine’s Sovereignty. This has placed a significant impact not only to the Ukraine that has been trying to form a stronger bond with the European Union but as well as others neighboring countries. That being said, the Ukrainian crisis is playing a greater role on a global scale, as power is in play that enables to change the balance of the economy. This can be comprehended by the notion of Russia’s ability to promptly demand for a referendum in Crimea that is against the constitutions.
Regarding Brexit, realism and liberalism have different viewpoints. Particularly, since realism claims that a state’s ultimate goal is power, realism suggests that
Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, wanted to take over Ukraine, Crimea specifically for geopolitical reasons. Vladimir Putin approved military action in Ukraine because it “reserves the right to defend its interests and the Russian speaking people who live there” (Saeed, Gu...
The conflict between the Ukraine and Russia is the Ukraine's most long-standing and deadly crisis; since its post-Soviet independence began as a protest against the government dropping plans to forge closer trade ties with the European Union. The conflict between Russia and the Ukraine stems from more than twenty years of weak governance, the government’s inability to promote a coherent executive branch policy, an economy dominated by oligarchs and rife with corruption, heavy reliance on Russia, and distinct differences between Ukraine's population from both Eastern and Western regions in terms of linguistics, religion and ethnicity (Lucas 2009).