In February 2014, the international community witnessed a turn for the worse in the Ukrainian political crisis. Protests in Kiev turned violent and deadly and President Viktor Yanukovych was impeached merely hours after fleeing the country. While Ukraine’s parliament sought a new speaker and formed an interim government, rallies in the disputed territory Crimea quickly gained momentum. Ukraine is on the brink of its law and order completely breaking down, and the United Nations and other world powers are unsure of how to react or handle the situation (Al Jazeera, 2014).
On February 27th, the School of International Service hosted a panel of American University faculty members to discuss the political turmoil in these former soviet territories. Dean Jim Goldgeier moderated the discussion, which included Professors Keith Darden and Anton Fedyashin. According to the event website, topics included, “…the current situation in Ukraine, possible outcomes, and the roles of Europe, Russia, and the United States” (2014).
At the root of the crisis in Ukraine is the division of its citizens between their loyalties to Europe vs. Russia. In short, western Ukraine thinks it beneficial to join the European Union, while eastern Ukraine would prefer to unite with Russia. Before delving into the current issues in Ukraine, it is important to acknowledge the country’s political and cultural history leading up to this upheaval. Ukraine is a recent political construction within last 20 years. Prior to that, the pieces of its territory were remnants of other empires, which essentially mark the current divisions within Ukraine. Southeastern Ukraine was settled during the Russian empire in the late 18th century and people in this area are very closely tied...
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...d into Russia while western Ukraine remain its own sovereign state left with the task of rebuilding its government and electing a new president. This way, it could eventually be voted into the European Union.
Given the current and ongoing state of turmoil in Ukraine, it is important to consider potential future leadership for the country Ukraine. Professor Fedyashin argues that Ukraine needs to be looking for the right institutions, not necessarily the right leader. The Ukrainian people are not looking to a leader to save them, as they have been largely let down after Orange Revolution. (School of International Service, 2014). To successfully move forward, they must focus on setting rules and upholding solid institutions to enforce them. Once these institutions become standard and accepted, the country can begin to rebuild its stature in the international community.
The movie “Philadelphia” shows our society in the workforce and the discrimination that can take place because of an illness or sexual orientation. In this movie Andy Beckett, a fully competent Philadelphia lawyer, is fired from the firm wheeler & Co. because he has AIDS and because he is homosexual. According to the statutes, the American with Disabilities Act, it is unlawful for an employer to fire an individual because of a terminal illness such as cancer or in this case AIDS. Moreover in the movie Andy was diagnosed with HIV, and he does not tell his supervisors in the firm for his sickness and that he is homosexual. However this does not impede the man’s performance, and if the illness does not impede in the performance in the job, the employer has not reason to fire you. Which in this case is not true because more often the law and morality are not one and the same. For example in the movie Charles Wheeler, the senior partner who assigned Andy a very important case in which a very important letter of that case was misplaced, so they accused Andy for that incident and they also ...
The information war between the West and Russia had intensified once again and reached levels higher than the levels of Russo-Georgia war (2008). Russian media naturally is defending its annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol as a democratic referendum and justifying the military intervention as the protection of rights of the Russian population of Crimea. The referendum was very controversial since it had an unusually high voter turnout and the Pro-Russian vote has created speculations that the referendum has been falsified by the Russian government. The Western media condemns Russia for the anne...
The reading for week three focuses on analyzing the information uncovered by Ehrenreich. The purpose of the Evaluation was to highlight key social problems apparent in the field findings of the three cities Ehrenreich visited. In this week’s reading section, the author focuses strongly on her Minneapolis and Portland experiences. The main points Ehrenreich writes about are unionization, wage, and housing costs. Walmart, one focal point of the section, embodies many of the social and economic problems that Nickel and Dimed brings to question. Ehrenreich notices while at Walmart that workers are unaware of the indignities taking place in the workplace. Many employees lack the education, confidence, and opportunities
International organizations such as NATO and the UN are essential not only for global peace, but also as a place where middle powers can exert their influence. It is understandable that since the inception of such organizations that many crises have been averted, resolved, or dealt with in some way thro...
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
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.
Wikipedia contributors. "2014 Crimean crisis." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 19 May. 2014. Web. 20 May. 2014.
Vladimir Putin is the elected president of the Russian Federation. The former member of the KGB is known to some as a torturer, a tyrant, and a murderer and is known to have plans to recreate the Soviet Union. While saying that letting Crimea become a part of Russia is giving in to Putin’s communist ideals, Crimea is largely Russian, and is not strategically important to the European Union’s goals. Yanukovich’s (The former Prime Minister of Ukraine) security forces fired upon and killed dozens of protestors. He was ousted ...
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
Currently Ukraine has a plethora of natural resources, arable land, and a willing workforce. This combination, with the right economic stimulus can flourish creating a stable and extremely potent economy. In order limit the Russian influence in the area, we must send economic stimulus packages to revitalize the Ukrainian industries. This has already shown promise with the Gore- Kuchma commission and should be continued. Simultaneously it is important that we begin forming a strong trade relationship, focusing on limiting the Ukraine’s need for Russia, by providing an alternate means for goods.
"Why Crimea Is so Dangerous." BBC News. N.p., 11 Mar. 2014. Web. 05 Apr. 2014. .
Democracy relies on a set of institutions such as elections and civil society to function properly. However, when there is little recognition of the importance of such institutions, they become vulnerable to attack by powerful executives. By exhibiting indifference to attacks on democratic institutions such as elections and civil society, the Russian people have allowed themselves to lose, in a large degree, key avenues through which they can express their voice. The Russian people’s prioritization of security through law and order over democracy has been exploited by Putin who emphasizes such priorities as an excuse for his infringement on democratic institutions. Stoner-Weiss expresses a similar sentiment in her article “It is still Putin’s Russia” saying, “The erosion of the content (if not formal institutions) of Russian democracy has been gradual, but it has been steady. Putin accomplished it in part by increasing the importance of the security apparatus in governing the country”. In the face of a public that does not recognize the importance of democratic institutions, Putin has been able to consolidate power and infringe upon democratic institutions without accountability leading to a nation that is formally democratic, but in reality has strong elements of
Putin needs to understand cultural boundaries will arise and it is imperative to promote social interactions and new ideas in the global community. Works Cited: Dastagir, Alia. " Ukraine, Russia, Crimea: How the story evolved. " USA Today.
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 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).