US- Ukraine Relations
Recently with the Ukrainian presidential elections, the relationship between the U.S. and the Ukraine has come to the forefront of International policy. Ukraine has been making strides in reformatting its government and culture in a change from communism to democracy. Already they have changed from a command to free market, to an ownership society, and the consolidation of powers should be coming along smoothly with the new president. Lastly, the Ukrainian government has shown its willingness to work with western countries by aligning some polices with the E.U., N.A.T.O., and the U.S. This willingness was also proven in their part in the signing of the START treaty and the signing of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
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.
It is important that the U.S. insures Ukrainian independence from Russia. If the Ukraine became part of Russia, not only would Russia obtain the worlds leading supplier of ICBMs, But other countries part of the former Soviet Union are at risk of losing their independence. Russia’s interest in the region has recently come to light during the election scandal of 2004. Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin strongly supported candidate Yanukovych in the election. Yanukovych’s main policies dealt with “Russifying the Ukraine”, and obviously the west did not support this. On the other hand, Yanukovych’s opponent Yushchenko supports more western based ideas. During the investigation into the voter fraud, it is important to point out the massive public protest to the outcome of the election, the so called Orange Revolution. This protest against the government shows the peoples’ want for a democratic government and willingness to fight the government using industry strikes and sit ins. Another important point was the poisoning of Yushchenko which was linked to the KGB and the Russian government. The results of this election shows the need for the United States to help wean the Ukrainian government off of Russian influence.
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.
KyivPost, accessed March, 16, 2014, http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/nato-confirms-readiness-for-ukraines-joining-organ-63797.html. "NATO Launches 'Intensified Dialogue' with Ukraine." NATO, accessed March, 16, 2014, http://www.nato.int/docs/update/2005/04-april/e0421b.htm. Lowther, Adam and Casey Lucius. Identifying America's Vital Interests.
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.
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.
Cuba’s unpredictable shift toward socialism and its growing dependence on the Soviet Union divided both the leadership and the country at large. With a relationship dating back to before Fidel Castro’s installment into power, Russia and Cuba have both played major roles in the development and regression of each other’s economies and societies.
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...
The big crisis in Ukraine is starting to get out of hand. The government cannot even figure out what to do, and is getting kicked out of office. There are street protests happening all over Ukraine especially at Kyiv’s Independence Square. There is civil unrest against Yanukovych because he did not do what the people wanted to have. After everything is starting to cool down, Russian troops start to enter the country. The crisis was getting so far out of hand that the US and the EU had to figure out how to help, so they got involved in the crisis. The Ukraine conflict was triggered by Yanukovych declining the EU deal, and when everything was getting settled down in Ukraine, Russia invades Ukraine.
The U.S. and Russia have cold war history and ideology still strong among their constituents. The Cold War was also never really over, hence why assuming geopolitics were no longer relevant was a mistake on behalf of Fukuyama’s The End of History. The history of the U.S. and the Soviet Union are described through international proxy wars heavily relying on strategic locations, geopolitics is imbedded in their relationship. They both are always competing for spheres of influence, now not only in regards to Crimea in Ukraine, but also in Syria. Russia will not forget the financial build up of Western states after WW II, the integration of Warsaw Pact states and the Baltic Republics into NATO (Mead, 2), and the containment policy of states around the world that lead to the dissembling of the Soviet
As Lester B. Pearson once said “Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.” Politics may create disagreements and conflict between two countries, but it can also affect countries relations. When Canadian Prime Minister Diefenbaker refused to accept American warheads it has set back Canadian and American relations. However In many ways we still help each other out. Canada benefits from close ties to the United States of America because it helps our economy, forms our culture, and they provide military protection.
The United States and Russia have been battling off pernicious factions menacing the stability of their democracies over the years. Russia has come a long way over the past century, enduring a number of different phases that have completely desecrated any power Russia may have had paralleled to the rest of the world. The United States, however, has been evolving into a prosperous world power that has led to new respect from many other nations. Both Russia and the United States have struggled in the past at maintaining a significant amount of cultural commitment to preservation of specific aspects of their respective democracies. Having a relatively new democracy, Russian citizens have different perceptions and expectations of government from those of United States citizens. With new liberties and freedoms, Russians are struggling to grasp the concept of capitalism and participation in government. In order to preserve strong features of democracy, such as the right to vote or freedom of speech, a country's constituents must respect and positively view their government. They must have faith in that the government is working for their best interests. Physically, the United States and Russia have been impacted greatly by their geography. Historically, the backgrounds of Russia and the United States are of stark contrast. Traditionally, Russians have a difficult time believing in the stability of their government as it has changed a number of times. Geography has had a profound influence on the Russian psyche. Russia is a land that lies open to invasion and the elements, for it possesses no major natural barriers. In the southeast, there are great plains that allow easy entrance to any would-be conquero...
Consequently, Russia offers U.S. businesses both high risk, and potentially high rewards. Russian firms and customers admire U.S. technology and know-how, and generally are interested in doing business with U.S. companies. At the same time, there is a tendency in some quarters to suppose that the U.S. is responsible for the changes which have occurred in Russia, especially those which have caused most hardship to individuals and to industry. This sentiment has attracted the support of some political leaders, and in given credence by a significant proportion of the populace. At the same time, a strong U.S. commercial presence is viewed in the Russian Far East as a counterbalance to other regional economic powers.
C2. The ideologies in the Soviet Union and the United States differed immensely and created tension between them. The Soviet Union believed in Communism while the United States believed in Capitalism. The Soviet Unions communism belief meant that they thought that everything should be owned and ruled by the government and things would be divided amongst the people.
Jack Donnelly states that “Theories are beacons, lenses of filters that direct us to what, according to the theory, is essential for understanding some part of the world.” These various theories, or lenses for viewing the world help us understand the way in which countries interact and why things occur in the field of international relations. The two main schools of thought in the field are Realism and Liberalism. One must understand these theories in order to be able to understand what is happening in the world. Understanding the filters that are Liberalism and Realism, one can look to make some sort of understanding as to what is happening right now between the Ukraine and Russia. The subsequent annexation of the province of Crimea by Russia is of paramount importance to multi governmental organisations like the United Nations and the European Union who are looking to understand this event from the Realist perspective as well as the Liberal paradigm.
A breakdown in Yankee-Russian relations is a major overlap in the news articles that involve Russia and The United States in recent times, after the Yankees launched 60 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian airport after they used chemical weapons on their own citizens. The Russian government has recently issued statements of how the Yankee bombings are a act of aggression, and a violation of international laws. “Vladimir Putin views the US missile strikes on Syria as ‘aggression against a sovereign state in violation of international law, and under a false pretext’”. This act has only separated and harmed the relations between the two nations, even though in the month of March of this year it had looked that the two nations would begin to meld a relationship
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).