Ukraine Case Study

It massive forests and frozen tundra’s have picturesque views that would astound anyone. The country has a land surface area of 6,592,735 square miles, making the largest country by land comparably to the world. Since Russia is the biggest country in the world, it has every landscape imaginable. From Lake Baikal, the biggest lake in Europe, to the Ryn desert, and the cold Siberian forests. Russia has it all when it comes to land geography. The northern part of Russia concealed with the Arctic Ocean, which is froze for the majority of the year. To the west the only way Russia has access to the Atlantic Ocean is through the Black Sea, and then through the Mediterranean Sea. Another way to access the Atlantic Ocean is through the Baltic Sea or through the Barents Sea, which is only operable in the summer, since in the winter everything over the 60-degree latitude line turns into ice. Even though Russia can access the Atlantic Ocean through the sea when you look at a map, there is two more non-geographic obstacles. The first one is that countries that are around the sea, for example, Turkey, and Denmark, which are part of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), can deny or make it hard for Russia to use those routes. NATO’s purpose is to pledge the liberty and safety of its members through military and political methods. In other words, if one NATO country takes a conflict with a non-member of NATO, then all

Russia fought on the Allied side in the war and suffered sever damages and loss. More that three million lives were lost and the country became broke. After Tsar Nicholas II was overthrown and the Russian Revolution ended, the Communists took over power and Russia pulled themselves out of the war two months later. Russia became renamed as the Soviet Union and fought alongside Germany and the United States in World War II. After the war, the Soviet Union turned on the United States and faced off against them in the Cold War which ended at the fall of Communism in 1991. Russia then became a democracy under the President Vladimir Putin. Now, he is the prime minister but has turned back democratic reforms to reassert influence over neighbors. Russia then invaded Georgia. Many civilians of the United States saw the attack. This sparked new tension with the United States. Although the Presidents, Obama and Dmitri Menvedev agreed to move past the Cold War, many believe it will be not as easily done and

Non-US/Multinational Policy Goals, include NATO expansion in size and influence). Relations with Russia. Create an independent Kurdish nation.

Chechens, who had lived as members of the Soviet Union, were also relocated during World War II. Prior to the formation of the Soviet Union, Chechens had been under Russian rule for two centuries. The North Caucasus came under tsarist rule in the early nineteenth century but fighting between tribes and the Russian army had occurred for much of that time as the tsar attempted to assert his dominance over the region. In 1865, there was a rebellion against the tsarist regime in response to forced resettlement to Turkey. After the October Revolution, Chechnya declared independence from Russia, but were forcibly absorbed into the newly formed Soviet Union after intervention by the Red Army. In 1934, Chechnya joined Ingushetiya to form the

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Chechen-Ingush ASSR was split into two parts: the Republic of Ingushetia and the Chechen Republic. The latter proclaimed the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, which sought independence. Following the First Chechen War with Russia, Chechnya gained de facto independence as the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. Russian federal control was restored during the Second Chechen War. Since then there has been a systematic reconstruction and rebuilding process, though sporadic fighting continues in the mountains and southern regions of the

Ukraine is granted a market economy status by the EU and USA. The sharp economic decline in the 90s resulted in deteriorating living standards for most citizens and widespread poverty. However, during the 21st century, there has been some positive economic growth in Ukraine, as well as Eastern Europe as a whole. Ukraine’s currency, the Hryvnia, was introduced in September 1996 and has remained relatively stable. The unstable political situation in Ukraine hardly influences its economic development. GDP has been growing steadily since 2005 at an average growth rate of 7% and industrial production has been expanding by 12%. The Ukrainian economy was hit by the harsh effects of the global financial crisis but managed to attain a 4.2%

Chechnya has been a war-torn hearth of terrorism on Russia’s southern periphery for a few decades. Couple weeks before the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi a number of suicide bombings were carried on Russian soil, which brought an extensive international attention to the dangerous North Caucasus region. Such brutality and bloodshed illuminated poor governance and counterterrorism threats in geographically close but ethnically different area of Russian Federation, which is embedded with separatist and nationalistic campaigns. The North Caucasus was highlighted as a critical region that will remain a source of endemic tension and conflict. [National Intelligence Council (2004), p. 54] Among the territories with the lack of governance, the North Caucasus, especially Chechnya, is definitely worth attention because this extremely diverse region is located in pivotal/critical frontier between Asian and European civilizations, carries the most dangerous transit path for the smuggling of illegal weapons and goods and is highly corrupted. According to J.Brown “lagging economies, ethnic affiliations, intense religious convictions, and youth bulges will align to create a ‘perfect storm’ for internal conflict.” [Janet P. Brown Globalization in 2020] Moreover, location and intensity level of the conflict are determined by the competence of the country’s government. Those countries, such as Russia, that are unable to both satisfy the expectations of their people and resolve

The two countries, Russia and Ukraine, had different reactions towards the armed violence and impeachment of the Ukrainian president. Although the majority of the Ukrainians opposed Viktor’s decision to procrastinate the signing the EU-Ukraine integration agreement, all the ex-presidents accused for its interference with the affairs of Crimean. The former presidents of Ukraine, including Leonid Kravchuk and Leonid Kuchma described the present crisis as Russia’s political interventions designed to interfere with the internal affairs of Ukraine and its relationship with the European Union (Hanschke 1). The people of Crimea have not been seeking for secession from Ukraine, but their interest is to have extended autonomy and rights to govern the Crimean affairs with minimum involvement of the government of Ukraine. Russia, on the other hand, have dismissed the accusation and stated that it is pursuing the interest of the people of Crimea to join the Federation of Russia. Russia holds that the people of Crimea have the power to decide the future of their territory and Russia will be ready to respect their decision. Study shows that about 90

South Ossetia has truly changed because of the war between Russia and Georgia. South Ossetia became crime ridden with many weapons and contraband on the streets (Bonner). This shows how this war impacted the people of South Ossetia more than Russia and Georgia were impacted. South Ossetia never was the cause of the conflict they were just in the crossfire. Russia starts to get more aggressive. Russia came over and killed many people to capture South Ossetia (Russia-Georgia Conflict). Russia can easily take over any of these countries if they want. This conflict could have ended fast, Russia just needed Georgia’s help and resources. Russia has proven that they are stronger than Georgia they are just trying to weaken them. Russia

Abkhazia, located between Europe and Asia, is known as a separatist state. Separatism is when a smaller group separates from a larger group. Though they are mostly independent from each other now, Abkhazia’s history of autonomy from Georgia has been on-and-off. Wars and conflicts in the past have changed their relations numerous times, by force and by choice. In 1008, Abkhazia

Russia is a huge landmass and covers a vast amount of the earth’s surface area. Being so large, Russia contains a huge variety of different geographical features. There are several mountains, rivers, bodies of water, climate zones, and population centers in Russia. Most of the development in Russia is located in its core area, east of the Ural Mountains. There are several countries around Russia that used to be parts of a larger union called The Union of Soviet Socialists Republics, however, in 1991, the USSR broke apart into several other independent states. The new states that were formed are: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and

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).

In early 2014, Russia made the decision to conduct an illegal military intervention into Ukraine. It all began when there was a dispute over whether Ukraine should accept financial help from Russia or Europe, which then ascended into the ousting of the Ukrainian president and then invasion of Ukraine. More specifically, Russia began to taking over the Ukraine territory of the Crimean Peninsula through illegal use of force (Global Security, 2016). During that time, the Russian government voted to place Crimean’s into the Russian Federation, which had been rapidly accepted by the President of Russia himself, Vladimir Putin. Most of the Crimean population is ethnic Russians, although there are also the pro-Ukraine Tatar minorities that make

It was quite a shock when Ukraine was voted, along with Poland, a host country for Euro 2012 in 2007: could the championship really be held in this eastern European country, a former Soviet state, lacking a good infrastructure and an efficient administration? Nevertheless, the country started the preparations of the biggest sporting event it has yet organised. Only the future can tell us whether the transformation has been successful, but the assignment was not completely random, as Ukraine has been described as a “frontrunner” in Europeanisation, when compared to the oth-er countries in the Eastern Partnership. It is obvious that the proximity of the country to the EU plays an important role in this. The highly mobile population is

The breadbasket of Eastern Europe is having a problem with militants who have killed and have tortured hundreds of people in the name of freedom. The militants, Pro-Russian rebels native to Ukraine, believe that their actions against the government are just. Those who believe that the Pro-Russian Ukrainian rebels are fighting against a corrupt, ultranationalist government are right. The Ukrainian citizens need to understand, however, that the government of Ukraine is the lesser of two evils; the rebels have committed many more heinous crimes than the government has. The rebels are also against policies that can benefit all of Europe and Ukraine. Currently, the Ukrainian people seek to have a stable nation with a self-sufficient government