Ukraine is an Eastern European country with a population of about 45 million. Before the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, it was called The Ukraine, which means “borderland”. It lies to the west of Russia and to the east of the rest of Europe. For over two centuries, Russia has been trying to make Ukraine more Russian. Ukraine has been torn between the two (Russia and Europe, and more recently, the European Union) for a very long time. West Ukraine speaks native Ukrainian and identifies more with Europe. East Ukraine speaks Russian, which is the nationality with the closest ties to them.
Protests started in November of 2013, when the Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych announced that Ukraine would abandon the agreement to strengthen ties with the European Union, and instead chose to become closer with Russia. These peaceful protests were mostly the west Ukrainians. Yanukovych then passed laws restricting public demonstrations and freedom of speech. Even Russian-speaking Ukrainians in the east began protesting, and the revolts became more violent.
Starting on February 18, ...
International politics as one may imagine includes foreign affairs. This is why the topic and focus of this paper revolves around the current event within Eastern Europe. It will focus on both Russia, Ukraine, and the world, and from it, it will be analyzed by using the resources provided within class. After all it is a International Politics course, and one of the best ways to effectively put the skills and knowledge to use is to focus on an event or current event. The paper will attempt to go over in a chronological order of the events that has happened, and what is happening currently over in Ukraine. Afterwards, an analyzed input will be implemented providing reasoning behind Russia's actions, and actions of the world, and potentially some solutions.
While many see Russia’s movement to admit Crimea as an attempt recreate a communist USSR-like ‘supercountry’ and the Russian government and their Pro-Russian Ukrainian counterparts have committed multiple crimes against humanity, the United States should not intervene in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Tight sanctions risk severing ties with Russia and military intervention may very well ignite World War III. This may be seen as even more democratic imperialism, which the United States has been trying to avoid recently.
The pro-Russian Yanukovich government was powerless against the popular movement of the Ukrainian people who demanded European Integration after the government’s decision to halt talks of the association agreement with the European Union and instead focus on the accession of Ukraine to The peaceful demonstrations that started in November 2013 lasted for months and turned violent in 2014. The Pro-European opposition clashed with the pro-Russian government. In regions where the European influence was strong the local governments were occupied by protestors. The culmination of the Euromaidan was the February Clashes, which became a revolution later on. Even though the movement ended with the signing of the association agreement, the new government had to deal with the difficult aftermath.
One of the biggest differences between the two incidences of Ukraine and the book we read would be the time periods, as well as duration of the disputes. Some say that racial injustice and oppression is still very relevant today, and of course the disagreement in the Ukraine is relevant due to the fact that it is all over the news at the moment. For the most part, black and white segregation was centered and isolated in the United States and stayed there overall. The thing about the Ukrainian struggle is that it started in Ukraine and Russia, and has stayed there, but it has a possible global ripple effect, if you will. Overall, the Ukrainian dilemma has already reached the world in terms of being aware of what i...
Ukraine has recently shaken the world with a phenomenon called Euromaidan, a collective name for some extraordinary events that took place on the main square of its capital. A dormant post-soviet country "somewhere by Russia" suddenly made it to the major media headlines and stayed there for three months straight. And it wasn't just a pretty picture of impressive crowds or transmundane tire-fires that captured the eye of the public. This uprising, that looked at first just like any other "color revolution", quickly escalated into a strong self-organized and structured movement, becoming a higher level of protest for Ukraine in particular and Europe in general. Caused by a number of political and social tensions, this national crisis still keeps developing even after the notorious president and his government are gone, inciting both an informational and an actual war between Ukraine and Russia.
Erupting in 1987, a revolt called the Infitada began in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. This revolt was initially started by local Palestinians residents and was soon characterized by rock throwing as their only means of opposing the Israeli military forces. As images began to circulate of civilians armed with rocks fighting for their rights against the heavily armed Israeli forces in a one-sided conflict they began to win a substantial amount of sympathy for their struggle in the neighboring Islamic communities. A few years later in 1991, the Infitada had all but ended. Instead the increased Israeli repression during this epoch seemed to be laying the initial groundwork for future violence in the region. This time period between the end of the first Infitada and the beginning of the second contain key events that help explain why the outbreak of the second Infitada transpired.
1945 marked the end of World War II, a devastating mark on the history of human kind, but one we have managed to overcome. 69 years have passed and humans have advanced both in the fields of technology and emotion. We have begun to accept once frowned upon ideals such as marriage between two of the same gender and interracial relationships, and have been more open to the needs and concerns of those in other countries. But is our worldly compassion and understanding soon coming to an end due to Russia's devious political schemes with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych?
On March 18, 2014, Russian President Valdimir Putin announced the annexation of Crimea, two days after voters in this semi-autonomous territory approved a referendum on separating from Ukraine. Crimea is an eastern Ukrainian peninsula located on the Black Sea. It’s connected to the rest of the Ukraine by a small strip of land. “Ukraine screams ‘robbery’ while Russians and Russian Crimeans feel Crimea is ‘coming back home’,” (Hodgman, 3/28/2014). Cremia was absorbed into the Russian empire along with most of ethnic Ukrainian territory by Catherine the Great in the 18th century. In 1921, the peninsula became part of the Soviet Union. Crimea only became part of the Ukraine when Soviet leader Njkita Khruschchev gave the peninsula to his native country in 1954. However, in 1991, the Soviet Union broke up and Crimea ended up in an independent Ukraine. Sixty percent of Crimea’s population of two million identify themselves as Russians. Today, Crimea’s population is divided on the issue of being annexed to Russia. Geographically, Crimea is an extension of Ukraine; however, demographically and politically, it had become Russian. Ethnic Russians in Crimea support the annexation while the Crimean Tatars, originally a Mongol-led ethnic group who also claims Crimea as home, and Ukrainians express pro-Ukrainian sentiments.
At the heart of the crisis in the Ukraine is the question of whether that country would be better off forging a future with the European Union or with Russia. The answer is very complex as the Ukraine and Russia have a long history together with many citizens of the Ukraine having very close ties to Russia. But there is also a strong desire by many Ukrainians to build a future that has a more open political system, more promising economic opportunities, and a less oppressive and corrupt government with a better track record on human rights. Many believe Russia’s intention is to reassemble those Eastern European countries into a 2014 version of the Iron Curtain. The Ukraine is very important to Russia economically, militarily and historically. In recent months, Russia has gone to extreme measures to protect its interests, whether it is persuasion or brute force. Despite Russia’s aggression, the Ukraine should resist moving backward into a murky alliance with Russia and strike out in a new, freer direction by building a stronger alliance with the Europe Union.
The initial spark of the crisis was Ukraine’s moves toward Europeanization. This was a major turning point in the crisis. The March 16th referendum is contested, in light of the absence of international monitors. While the West paints Russia’s soft annexation of Crimea as a violation of international law, the Russians posit that Crimea wanted to break from a country they considered hostile. The Ukrainian central government considers this a violation of international law. In the end, with the help of a Russian military intervention, Crimea successfully severed ties.
Agriculturally speaking, Russian farmland is not highly productive and has very short harvest cycles. Due to its large population, Russia needs whatever farmland it can get its hands on to feed its own shrinking population. And where there is abundant food, it’s likely there are also abundant children, which is something Russia desperately needs due to its declining population. In regards to what makes Ukraine different from Russia, I would say their desire to be different, live as separate state, speak a different language, live by different customs and culture, makes them different. But in the end, I would say the most important factor is the fact that Ukraine does not want to be a part of Russia, and as any other nation, its people have a right to rule themselves if they so desire. I think the point Snyder is trying to make when he says ‘Europe cannot live without Ukraine’ is that the far-right groups in Europe would be emboldened and legitimated by a victorious and expanding ‘Eurasian’ system. My question though, is whether the far right has made substantial gains in the European opinion polls, and why it did or did not? Is Europe immune to these far-right ideas, or is liberalism forever a part of European
Ukraine is the largest nation to come from the former Soviet satellite states and like the rest of the former communist nations, has a large ethnic division between its citizens. To know why Ukraine is so divided and so passionate in regards to its political views we must look back to the basis of ethnic diversity throughout Ukraine’s history.
In a Post soviet environment World has evovled around a unipolar system with united states having a preponderance in international matters. The remanants of the cold war still haunting europe. Most of the Eastern European nations formally allied with soviet union are now turing away from russia towards European union. The Reasons for this paradigm shift owes a lot to the democratic ways of the liberal western world and the economic ties and stability being offered to its allies. Hitherto Ukraine was in a dilemma whether to join the western block or to to under the patronage and shadow of Russia. The Multi ethnic population of Ukraine has different opinions. Some favour Russia and others favour European union. Their choices seems to be motivated by geographic and cultural proximity. The Immediate cause of the current crisis traces its origin to the Ukrainian presidents descision to forfeit an agreement with the european union. And Endorsing the russian aid in terms of a bail out plan and an added gas price reduction. So the current crisis has far reaching political and economic ramifications. If russia pulls out of the economic bail out package there needs to be an alternative. European union has a responsibility to ensure the regional peace. A military action in Ukraine would further deteriorate the situation and may escalate it to a multiparty conflict.
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...
Furthermore, the Ukraine and Russia have always shared a history; as both states are embodiments of the process of transformation, that have risen from the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the end of the Cold War. The Ukraine’s material legacy is demographically and territorially close to Russia, thereby, tying the Ukraine to Russia.