Although the cold war ended, there is a long lasting tension between former global powers, US and Russia (formerly known as the Soviet Union). Historically, Russia has had its many attempts of using its military power to regain its previously colonized territory. However, no matter how successful Russia was able to expand, its incapability to have a stable military power, had cost them to maintain their colonized territories. The more I dig deep in this weeks readings, the more I think about until how long will Russia will continue to try to dominate the Eurasia.
Freedman raised a great perspective as to why Russia seems to fail in its expansion. The answer is its weak military command. Putin, similar to previous Russian leaders, have an unstable chain of command. As Ukraine sought help from the global community and became part of NATO, placed sanctions, etc it has taken Russia by surprise on how to maintain control during the invasion. Even if it were possible for Russia to annex eastern Ukraine, the financial consequences it would faces would be too great to bare.
Another question to keep in mind when analyzing this week assigned readings is to think who is really to blame for Ukraine invasion? Is it US and its Allies or Russia? Even though it might be easier to place the blame on Russia and its delusions to restore the Soviet Union. It seems the invasion is a direct result of NATO expansion and threating Russia’s political agenda.
One reply on “Week 3”
Karine,
Russia has been preoccupied for centuries about the security vulnerabilities on its western flank. After all, it was invaded twice from that direction–first by Napoleon in the 19th century and again by Hitler in the 20th. It depended on the countries of Eastern Europe (e.g., Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, etc.) to act as a buffer–what the Russians refer to as “the Near Abroad.” Slowly but surely that buffer has disappeared as more and more East European countries have joined NATO. Meanwhile, Putin has made little secret about his desire to reestablish as much of the old Soviet empire as possible.
I won’t go into great detail (because we’ll discuss it in class) about why I disagree about the idea that it was the US and the expansion of NATO that precipitated Russia’s invasion. Suffice to say that no evidence has been uncovered that NATO had any plans in the near term to invite Ukraine to membership, and also Putin kept denying that he had any plans to invade–until he did. –Professor Wallerstein