Russia 's Hybrid War Of Ukraine

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.

Russia is the largest threat facing the United States [25]. The threat from Russia specifically comes from not only their supply of nuclear weapons and their advanced military, but their “intent” behind the use of their military power. The state’s recent aggression against surrounding countries shows the attempt to reclaim international influence [25]. Their “behavior”’ in “Crimea, Georgia, and Ukraine,” has prompted the global community to rethink security in Europe. [25] Russian nationalism, and a desire to recoup their prestige from the cold war is an invitation for confrontation [25].

There has been tons of contentions and conflicts in the second largest country in europe and while the news presents us all these ideas about what going there, the truth, as it always is, is much more complex. The recent turmoil in the Ukraine has brought up a lot of issues remembered in the cold war. Russia Annexing the crimean peninsula from the Ukraine scaring western powers, specifically the United States, into the old policy of Soviet containment and using any means to put negatives towards the “eastern block” preventing the spread of its influence. Although the United States and it NATO/European Union current policy’s towards the eastern block have attempted to contain this strong autocratic style of

Summary: As of 25JUL17, the U.S. has said it is actively reviewing whether to send defensive weapons to help Ukrainian forces against Russian-backed rebels. Russia warned that anything that heightened tensions could jeopardize a solution to the conflict. This comes following a recent increase in violence over the last week where five Ukrainian soldiers were killed, and another eight were wounded in

On February 27 of 2014, masked Russian troops without insignia infiltrated in south Ukraine and captured strategic sites across Crimea, a rugged peninsula that strategically juts in the Black Sea. Within a few days Crimea was under Russian control and by July 2015 Crimea was formally integrated into Russia. The whole episode drew international consternation against Russia, which resulted in successive rounds of economic sanctions. A few days after the annexation, Ms. Clinton likened the move to the actions of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler (Rucker, 2014), a sentiment that was quickly adopted by the media; for example, on March 2, 2014 Bloomberg published an article entitled, “In Ukraine, Echoes of the Anschluss” (Bershidsky, 2014) and a few days later, on March 7, 2014, BBC published an article entitled, “Crimea seen as ‘Hitler-style’ land grab” (Kralova, 2014). This is a very grave accusation and, given that the USA and Russia collectively hold 90% of all nuclear weapons, prudence is in order.

"America … has an interest in a strong and responsible Russia, not a weak one. We want the Russian people to live in security, prosperity and dignity like everyone else -- proud of their own history. But that does not mean Russia can run roughshod over its neighbors. Just because of Russia’s deep history with the Ukraine, does not mean it should be able to dictate Ukraine’s future.” (state.gov). President Barack Obama, in March 2014, expressed the need for a more accountable and mindful Russia.

Russian Aggression is referenced over 6 times in the National Security Strategy (NSS) dated in February 2015 with similar references being made in the excerpt from Reagan Administration (March 1987) Soviet Military Power (SMP). Two documents with almost 28 years’ time difference show the continued importance that aggression by a Russian element still play in today’s environment. More importantly the method of how such aggression continues towards those states who are struggling to maintain a functioning government. Important similarities to take into account for both time periods are these conflicts are focused around failing states in areas such as the Middle East. These types of geopolitical locations continue to be the outlet where the conflicting ideals from the United States

Thesis: Holodomor was marked by negative relationships between the Soviet Union and Ukraine that would introduce a series of conflicts between the two nations, intensifying political tensions.

Armed men in unmarked combat uniforms seize Simferopol International Airport and a military airport in Crimea. Moscow claims this military movement is within the line of previous agreements to protect its fleet in the Black Sea. Putin then got the rights from the Russian government to wage war against the Ukraine to protect the ethnic russians that are in the area of Crimea. The Crimea then holds a referendum to leave the Ukraine and to join Russia, of which the world condemns and Russia welcomes with open arms. They vote to join Russia and they do with an overwhelming majority on May 6. As Moscow welcomes their newly acquired land into the Russian Federation with open arms, western nation explode in disapproving comments and minor threats. Sanctions are placed on Russian individuals who are close to Putin and his Regime while western leaders condemn the referendum, claiming it was set up by the Russian government and did not actually convey the will of the people of Crimea. Russian troops were planted in the Crimea and Russian troops were lined up along the border of Ukraine, creating fear that may have swayed people’s opinions. In fact, the vote received very little ethnic Ukrainians and the vote had a 97% approval to joining Russia. Since then, the mainland of Ukraine has been facing a lot of upheaval. Pro-Russian protesters have been fighting for their turn to be a part of Russia. All along the Eastern side of the Ukraine, protesters have been taking over

This strategy is effective against the United States, because the Hybrid Threat does not need to defeat the U.S. military, it just has to keep it busy until popular support for the U.S. operations fades at home. The conflict in the Ukraine is ever-changing – Pro-Russian protestors (believed to be Russian intelligence in disguise) created enough unrest that the Russian government could plausibly claim that it was moving troops to protect ethnic Russians, Russian military seized the peninsula, armed gunmen seized airports and the Ukrainian Parliament, insurgents attacked Ukrainian infrastructure, the Russian media pushed the idea that the ethnic Russians were being treated poorly, and that the Crimean Peninsula was stolen from Russia in the first place, while the government itself was threatening political and economic retaliation for any sanctions brought against them – all in an effort to confuse the issue and to cause other countries (like the United States), to hesitate to send troops to the

The issue raised within the article is the increased tension between Russian and the United States caused by Russia’s decision to back out of a ‘ landmark agreement on disposing weapons-grade plutonium’ added to its deployment of ‘ new nuclear-capable missiles to Kaliningrad on the baltic sea’ these two actions by Russia occurred due to Russia’s annoyance at the US’s military exercises in eastern Europe both of these actions have negatively affected interstate relations between the two world powers. Russian president Vladimir Putin’s military aggression has worried both european and american officials leaving them with a very difficult decision on how to deal with the issue and Putin because Washington’s attempts to deter Russia have failed

In March, Russia annexed Crimea by a referendum with an unrealistic 97% in favor, claiming that they were protecting ethnic Russians. This Russian move was criticized by the international community since Russia was violating its promise. In foreign policy, countries priorities are in order from security, economy, autonomy, environment, identity and then prestige. Russia knew by annexing Crimea, it would ensure the safety of Crimea’s ethnic Russians. However, Russia needs Crimea for potential long term economic gains and better security in the Black Sea. Russia is also being suspected of supplying weapons to separatist held territories through dubious aid trucks. Again, Russia is supplying so called aid in the name of protecting ethnic Russians, though it is clear he has other economic and security reasons in

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.

Since establishing independence from the Soviet Union, Ukraine has experienced its most prolonged and deadly crisis which has deconstructed government plans to create closer economic and trade ties with the European Union while also enticing a global impasse between Russia and the Western powers. The roots of the crisis stem from decades of inefficient and corrupt governance, an unbalanced economic system dominated by oligarchs, heavy reliance on Russia, and socioreligious differences between the Eastern and Western parts of Ukraine. Following the coup d’etat of President Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014, Russian operations to begin the take over of the Crimean Peninsula implied Russian intentions to expand its sphere of influence while

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