The Solution to the Ukrainian Crisis

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Summary

Political crisis in Ukraine has been dubbed as the biggest confrontation between the East and the West since the end of the Cold War. As the Crimean peninsula of Ukraine was annexed by the Russian Federation, the escalation of the current crisis is increasingly probable. While pro-Russian demonstrators are protesting in the eastern Ukraine, especially in Luhansk and Donetsk, approximately 40,000 Russian troops are amassed close to the Ukrainian border. Despite numerous attempts from the European Union (EU) and the United States to deescalate the crisis, the problem is still imminent and Crimea is still annexed. Since Russia is “one of the world’s major oil producers (ranking 7th in terms of its proven reserves) and the country possesses by far the largest natural gas reserves (with more than 20 percent of world proven reserves)” (Schmidt-Felzmann, 2011, p. 575), the West faces huge challenges in confronting its geopolitical power. The current policy of the West is extremely dangerous for Post-Soviet states who seek to inherit western ideologies and refuse to be influenced by Moscow. In order to tackle the Crimean crisis, challenge Russia, and overcome the economic challenges of Ukraine, new polices should be measured and established. Accordingly, the West should consider the following recommendations:
• Construct a new Gas pipeline in order to challenge Russian state-owned Gazprom and hence reduce the dependability of EU and Ukraine on Russia. The European Union should consider alternative gas pipelines like the Nabucco project and import natural gas via Southern Gas Corridor as well from the United States.
• Impose much stricter economic and political sanctions against Russia. As demonstrated by the Crimean Crisis and ...

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