Although Russia formally denied any military involvement in Ukraine, soldiers in unmarked Russian fatigues entering the Crimean peninsula and the “accidental” placement of artillery pieces beyond the Russo-Ukrainian border didn’t make it very hard to figure out who was responsible for the invasion of Crimea. Everyone’s theories were proven true when Russian President Vladimir Putin officially announced that the Russian Federation was annexing the Crimean Peninsula from the Ukrainian government. In this paper, I will discuss the Russian military involvement in Ukraine and the actions taken by the United States and Canada in response to these activities from the perspective of Mearsheimer’s five tenets of offensive neorealism.
On November
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Protests and violence continue until mid February, when the leaders of both the government and the opposition agreed to create a new government, resulting in the diminishing of Yanukovich’s powers and his escaping out of Kiev when the protesters took control of the city and the former Prime Minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, is installed as the interim leader. After these events, Aleksey Chaly, a pro-Russian leader, was elected as the new mayor of Sevastopol and supporters of the Russian Federation began to take control of buildings around the Crimean Peninsula and set in motion movements for Crimean separation. On February 28th, men in unmarked fatigues took control of the Simferopol airport and a Military airfield near Sevastopol, following which, the Russian government claimed that these military actions were in order to protect their fleet in the Black Sea. In March, Russian troops continued to spread across Crimea and the Crimean Parliament declared their wishes to join with Russia. At this time, the EU and the US gave their support to the Ukrainian government by creating trade agreements and rejecting the Crimean Referendum. On March 13th, the Ukrainian Parliament voted to create a national guard of 60,000 men that was whole-heartedly supported by the United Nations. Despite attempts by the EU and the UN, President Putin signed a treaty that annexed Crimea from the
The tension between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War allowed for both nations to exhibit questionable actions around the globe. The Iran-Contra Affair was one event that occurred under Reagan’s Administration that exemplified the trans-national impacts the Cold War was having around the world. The Affair is a combination of the United States’ actions within the countries of Nicaragua and Iran. However, the United States’ involvements were both ethically questionable as well as the motives of the Cold War. Although the actions in Nicaragua and Iran were separate actions, they showed how the government was involved in questionable activity around the globe while in the full-swing of the Cold War. The Iran Contra
Much of the international news right now seems to relate to the crisis situation created by the civil war in Syria. The topic is on the minds of politicians, especially regarding the Syrian refugees hoping to escape the dangers of the war. Syrian rebels are attempting to overthrow the existing government. Some of these rebels have the support of the United States while others, such as those who are connected to ISIS, do not. Russia has intervened on the side of the Syrian government. The reasoning for their intervention is perceived differently depending on the political theory followed in the explanation. The three major theories in international relations are realism, liberalism, and constructivism -- each of which will be discussed in terms of how they would explain the Russian intervention in Syria.
The United States from the Cold War and into the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) continues to face challenges in translating military might into political desires due to its obsession with raising an army, electing politicians and assembling a diplomatic corp that continue to gravitate towards State-to-State engagements that if not rectified could lead to substantial delays in fighting terrorism and non-terrorist adversaries or worse total failure of the United States Military’s ability to properly carry out it’s politicians objectives due to being blindsided.
After WWII, the USA and the Soviet Union faced a conflict as they competed for global power. Neighboring countries, like Afghanistan, were dragged into the conflict causing millions of people to die. Due in part to the high cost of waging this war the Soviet Union fell only four years after the conflict.
I believe that the United States’ involvement in the Cold War had a significant influence on the debate as well as the Supreme Court decision of the Brown v. Board of Education case.
War. Humans have thrived from war for as long as we can remember. The United States has been fighting wars ever since we found the new country in North America that we now call the United States. We fought against our selves for the freedom of others. We fought in several world wars. We have always fought. But in the late 1940's “war” changed forever. This was well known as the Cold War. Why was this so different? “ The world had never experienced anything like it. The Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States was a half century of military build-up, political maneuvering for international support (Hanes, Sharon M., and Richard C. Hanes).” This means that the world has always seen war as either hand to hand combat or gun to
World War 2 was both tragic but also a growing period for Canadians. Germany and The Soviet Union were in a non-aggression pact and were trying to take over Europe. Along with their greed for power, Hitler the leader of Germany did not like the Jewish, and sent almost all of them to concentration camps where they were put to work. Those who were too weak to work were put in gas chambers and put to death. Hitler soon broke his pact with Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union. Hitler was then faced with a two front war against the Soviet Union and the Canadian, British and later the United States. At home in Canada many things were happening within society. Women became more involved and became more independent and respected. The government
Since the early 1900s the United States has been embroiled in Iranian affairs, something that would have great effects both in 1979 and now. The United States’ interest in Iran was originally spurred by the discovery of oil, but due to the Cold War U.S. interest in Iran grew even more for strategic reasons. To continue to exert their influence in Iran, the United States, through the CIA, installed shah Pahlavi as ruler. The shah was a cruel and strict dictator and was eventually overthrown and exiled. In place of the shah, an Islamic Republic came to power under the rule of Ayatollah Khomeini.
The Cold War was a war between America and the Soviet Union. Both sides threatened to blow each other up with Nuclear Weapons. This war was a Cold War because neither side used weapons on the other. Both sides got involved in wars that they did not need to be involved in, but they fought just to prove they were the stronger country. When the Korean War and the Vietnam War broke out, both countries joined the fight to help out allies although their allies could fight the war alone. Many pacts, alliances, and treaties were formed because of the Cold War, mainly so we did not destroy the Earth. It took many years and multiple leaders on both sides to come to a resolution. Although America technically won the war, we were
After World War II, the practices of Communism, a political ideology, quickly spread from the Soviet Union to other countries in the Eastern Hemisphere. The United States, a country that practices democracy, avidly made it known to other nations that it opposed communist practices. In response to the rapid number of nations that were beginning to practice it, the United States set a goal to limit the amount of nations that practiced it. A poorly planned invasion by the United States on Cuba and certain locations of nuclear weapons increased tensions in the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States. This brought the world closer to a full out nuclear war than ever before. From choosing sides in the Ogaden War to opposing views on free enterprise, many conflicts arose between the United States and the Soviet Union which helped increase tension levels between the two nations. Ultimately, these contests led to the global awareness of the dangers of nuclear weapons.
In addition to an economic crisis, President Obama inherited the two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. An ardent opponent of Bush 's decision to invade Iraq in 2003, Obama pledged to withdraw American troops as soon as possible. Reagan argued that U.S. leadership was crucial to stop the Soviet Union from expanding. Contrastingly, Obama was eager to end the campaign in Afghanistan by slowly withdrawing troops, declaring that it was time for the U.S. to focus on nation-building at home. Reagan’s strategy was based in large part on his fundamental belief that a free and capitalist economy could outperform a Communist one and force both into an arms race that they could not afford. Obama’s doctrine instead emphasized how the state needed to tax
As World War II was coming to an end and the Ally armies were converging, two superpowers came to meet with one another on the outskirts of Berlin. With the momentum that the Red Army was making against Germany, many in the Allies believed that the Communists would continue to sweep across Europe. Although united against the greatest evil the world had ever known, both sides of the opposing economic theories viewed each other as the next enemy after the war. No war ever occurred between the Soviet Union and the United States, at least not one that was fought with soldiers. A war of espionage, alliances, and what this essay will focus on; propaganda. Propaganda was second nature to the Soviet Union, as from its insurrection the Soviet Union worked to convince its population and the world of how it’s system of economic governance was the better solution. This propaganda can take the form of any type of media, such as: pamphlets and flyers, radio and television, and film and animations or even word of mouth. It can be created to bolster one 's own goals, to discredit the goals of others, or a combination of both. As you will see in the following propaganda campaigns, it is common for pro-communist pieces to bolster its perception while damaging the beliefs of capitalism. Some propaganda may be truthful, however often a fact of such material is that hyperboles or straight-out lies are used to give your position the stronger claim. While in this essay I will not analyze the
On May 8th, 1945, Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel surrendered the German armed forces to the allies in Berlin, thus ending the war for Germany. The German people were then confronted by a situation never before experienced. All of Germany was occupied by foreign armies, their cities and infrastructure lay in ruins, and millions were homeless and starving. Following the unilateral surrender by Germany, the country was divided into four zones, governed by each of the allied powers: Britain, France, the U.S. and the Soviet Union. As diplomacy between the West and the Soviet Union began to deteriorate, each zone became more self-sufficient and independent of the others. Tensions between the West and the Soviet Union also began to rise as it became apparent that the two super powers, the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. would vie for dominance throughout the world, each seeking to spread its ideology and stop the spread of the other’s. The first real exacerbation of this conflict came when the Soviet Union blockaded the divided city of Berlin, which lay in is zone of control. The U.S.S.R. wanted to test the Western resolve to hold Berlin and maintain control. The response the U.S. chose was to keep Berlin supplied by air, through constant resupply by aircraft, a feat never before accomplished. The airlift lasted for nearly eleven months and kept the Western controlled sectors of Berlin adequately supplied, and showed the Soviet Union the U.S.’s resolve to hold out against the spread of
The Cold War between the United States of America and the Soviet Union was not only a battle of political conflict but also a rivalry to spread political ideology and influence worldwide. Various pieces of propaganda and articles written during the time had largely impacted American popular opinion and had powerful effects on the culture among young men and women of the 1940’s and 1950’s. “The Red Iceberg” comic book cover, published and presented during the Cold War era, was one use of media that perpetuated the negative effects of Soviet Union political influence while promoting the righteousness of the United States. The visual rhetoric presented in “The Red Iceberg” propaganda, and others alike, instigated an emotional and fearful
The crisis in Ukraine and Crimea’s recent accession to Russia are events that clearly highlight the underlying sources of conflict in global politics. While Russia sees its actions in Crimea as a “reunification” and the respect for the right of self-determination, the West views it as a threat to European security and a violation of territorial integrity. Crimea has been a debatable topic from the time it came under the control of the Russian Empire in 1783 during the reign of Catherine the Great. The justification then was similar to the reasoning being used by Vladimir Putin today. Catherine declared that she was protecting ethnic Russians in the region from the Ottoman Empire, much as Putin is claiming to protect Russians from Ukrainian