behind the Ukraine crisis
Putin's lack of rational strategy in a deeply divided nation
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The earlier, less violent, citizen protests in the Ukrainian Capital Kiev were known as the 'Euromaiden' rallies. Held in Independence Square, this protest was in response to President Yanukovych pulling out of a free trade deal with the European Union. This decision was the catalyst for the events that followed.
The internal divide in Ukraine makes a successful democracy extremely difficult. There are also extreme complications in regards to Ukraine's economy, as well as Russia's heavy influence in Ukrainian politics.
"What makes this so scary is that it means that Putin does not have a rational strategy in Ukraine, because he is not invading for rational strategic reasons. If he had a specific objective, then the West could make some concession or find some way to meet him halfway. But he does not. He is invading because the momentum of the crisis he himself created is careening beyond his control, and there's nothing that he or Ukraine or the United States can easily do to stop it." Max Fischer
The earlier, less violent, citizen protests in the Ukrainian Capital Kiev were known as the 'Euromaiden' rallies. Held in Independence Square, this protest was in response to President Yanukovych pulling out of a free trade deal with the European Union. This decision was the catalyst for the events that followed.
"What makes this so scary... Putin does not have a rational strategy in Ukraine, because he is not invading for rational strategic reasons... He is invading because the momentum of the crisis he himself created is careening beyond his control..." Max Fischer
Ukraine is the largest country entirely in Europe. It is one of the ten most attractive agricultural land acquisition regions and also has a well-developed manufacturing sector. It was part of the Soviet Union until 1991, and since then has been a less-than-perfect democracy with a very weak economy and foreign policy that wavers between pro-Russian and pro-European.
Ukraine is a deeply divided nation which has faced century-long periods of Russian domination. The country has been divided more or less between Ukrainians who see Ukraine as part of Europe and those who see it as intrinsically linked to Russia. The West of Ukraine is seen as pro-European and the East is seen as pro-Russian. An internal political crisis over this disagreement may have been inevitable. It was the decision of President Viktor Yanukovych to reject a deal for greater integration with the European Union (23rd of November, 2013) that sparked mass protest.
A complicated series of events has unfolded in a torn country wedged between the impeding 'West' and the 'imperial nationalistic Russia' . Ukraine is plagued with clashing nationalistic identities, which has become deeply integrated into their history, their language and their culture.