Russia’s Invasion of the Ukraine: The Causes and Effects
Throughout history, countries around the world have been invaded by neighboring countries for many different reasons. Some have been invaded for political reasons, others, for religious reasons and some for territorial reasons, like Germany during World War 2. Whatever the case may be, all countries have been invaded in the past at one point in time. A recent example of an intrusion in today’s modern world would be Russia into Ukraine. This incident has different perspectives and has caused a lot of turmoil within the country and the rest of the world; the past, present and future of this event are all tied together.
For centuries, Ukraine has been a part of Russia, but like every country that has wanted to be independent from another country; the two countries have had a complicated history. Until 1991, Ukraine became completely independent from Russia. Since its early days, Ukraine has always had Russian roots simply because it was Russia. Most of the people who live in Ukraine speak Russian. Today, Ukraine is split in two, culturally and politically; the west being Pro-European supporters and the east being Pro-Russian supports. The two cannot seem to see eye to eye when it comes to political reasons in the country. Since 2010, the presidential election divided the country with western Ukraine voting heavily in favor of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych. (Taylor 1) (Saeed, Gumuchian, and Mortensen 1)
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...
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...ng helmets, other non-lethal military aid to Ukraine." Fox News. FOX News Network, 17 Apr. 2014. Web. 29 Apr. 2014.
In the end, what we see in the situation in Ukraine is all about the actions that countries involved decide to take. The countries are all keeping a watchful eye on one another and the tension between them is thick. What the countries decide to do from here on out will affect the relationship of the countries and the people living in them in some way. If a country that is on Ukraine’s side does something to help Ukraine but angers Russia in the process, it could lead to some type of military conflict like war. Whatever the case may be in this battle, it is all in due time weather the two countries can work things out amongst themselves and keep the peace or, lead to a big military conflict like another war that will cause many casualties.
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.
In a recent White House brief, President Obama called the Russian invasion of Crimea a clear violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and international law. When assessing the Russo-Ukrainian crises in Crimea, the commander of European Command (EUCOM) and the Supreme Allied Commander of European Forces (SACUER) must account for U.S. interests in the region before deciding a proper course of action. This essay aims to assess four of the United States’ national interests through the perspective of EUCOM and SACUER. The first section will outline the role of EUCOM and SACUER in the European region and assess the overall problem of Russia invading Crimea. The second section will outline four of the United States’ national interests at stake: international order, trade and economic prosperity, energy supply, and freedom of the seas. In doing so, this assessment of U.S. interests in Crimea supports the options of non-intervention and a non-provocative stance in order to maintain long-term stability because the Russian invasion has only violated peripheral interests of EUCOM and SACUER.
[2] Weaver, Matthew. "Ukraine Crisis." The Guardian. N.p., 20 Feb. 2014. Web. 7 Mar. 2014. .
Under a backdrop of systematic fear and terror, the Stalinist juggernaut flourished. Stalin’s purges, otherwise known as the “Great Terror”, grew from his obsession and desire for sole dictatorship, marking a period of extreme persecution and oppression in the Soviet Union during the late 1930s. “The purges did not merely remove potential enemies. They also raised up a new ruling elite which Stalin had reason to think he would find more dependable.” (Historian David Christian, 1994). While Stalin purged virtually all his potential enemies, he not only profited from removing his long-term opponents, but in doing so, also caused fear in future ones. This created a party that had virtually no opposition, a new ruling elite that would be unstoppable, and in turn negatively impacted a range of sections such as the Communist Party, the people of Russia and the progress in the Soviet community, as well as the military in late 1930 Soviet society.
“Sierra Leone Rebels Forcefully Recruit Child Soldiers.” HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH. 1 June 2000. Web. 4 Dec. 2013.
With the fall of the pro-Russian government Russia had lost basically a very important ally to the European Union and NATO. President Vladimir Putin took a great risk and invaded Crimea that resulted in strong reactions from the West. Even Russia’s closest allies supported the territorial integrity of Ukraine.
tried to destroy the Ukrainian nation, tradition and culture. They have been trying to do this
Danilova, Maria. “Thousands Rally In Ukraine Capital Over EU Deal.” The Associated Press News Service, 23 Nov. 2013. Web. 8 Mar. 2014
The Slavophile and westernizer conflict is an inherent cultural question that Russians must answer about their country. Russian thinkers have long been fragmented between the Westernizer and the Slavophile viewpoint. Both disagreed about the true nature of the country as well as its relation with the West. It is a problem that has plagued Russia for centuries, and continues to do so to this day. Adopting the mindset of recognizing this conflict is essential to better understanding Russian history as well as the motives and thought processes of Russian leaders today.
However, things haven’t gone according to plan. In recent months after Obama’s start of his second term, relations have degraded rather than improving. The fight for power betweenIt started with Edward Snowden leaking classified documents, and lastly being granted asylum in Russia. The relations intensified when the nations had different stand points about the situation in Syria. The war in Syria has had a significant corrosive effect on the Relations between the United States and Russia. IN regards to Syria, the United States has a very negative track record with them. Back in 2002, the United States included Syria in a list of state that make up an “axis of evil” which was first listed by President Bush. The two nations pa...
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
“UN Extends Darfur Force Mandate.” Aljazeera.net. 31 Jul 2010: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 08 Nov 2013.
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe, that borders Russia north and northeast. Lately Ukraine has been making international headlines; the country is in complete and total turmoil or for lack of better words a crisis. What started as a request from the Ukrainian citizens for a change in government, limited the powers of the president, restored the country's constitution back to its original form from 2004-2010, and closer ties to the EU. Peaceful protesting turned into a nightmare, when the then president of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych failed to make good on his word. Instead, he made a deal with the Russian president and later sought refuge in Russia.
"Why Crimea Is so Dangerous." BBC News. N.p., 11 Mar. 2014. Web. 05 Apr. 2014. .
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).