Why Russia Invaded Ukraine: A Useful Primer

-

Why did Russia launch an unprovoked war in Ukraine and risk creating a wider global conflict? If you haven’t closely tracked the ambitions of Vladimir Putin, this primer offers some helpful context. In 30 minutes, the video covers the geopolitical, economic and environmental backstory. As you watch the explainer, it’s worth keeping one thing in mind: For years, European nations have long resisted bringing Ukraine into the NATO fold, precisely because they knew it would trigger a conflict with Putin. And there had been no recent plan to revisit the issue. All of this suggests that Putin has highlighted the NATO threat (amply discussed in the video) because it would provide him a useful pretext for an invasion. There was hardly an imminent threat.

If you’re looking for other rationales not covered by this video, you could focus on two reasons provided by Hein Goemans, a professor of political science at the University of Rochester: Putin “wants to reestablish directly or indirectly, by annexation or by puppet-regimes, a Russian empire—be it the former USSR or Tsarist Russia. A second possible answer has to do with the role of domestic Russian politics, which the standard literature on conflict takes very seriously: Putin has seen what happened in some former Soviet successor republics and the former Yugoslavia, several of which experienced ‘Color Revolutions’ and democratized. Indeed, it was a Color Revolution in Ukraine in 2014, which Putin mischaracterizes as a military coup. He wants to prevent more of these revolutions and prevent a democratic encirclement of countries around him, which could provide a safe haven for Russian dissidents who’d be dangerous to Putin’s political survival. Both of these goals overlap in the sense that he is seeking regime change, which is a dangerous game.”

If you would like to sign up for Open Culture’s free email newsletter, please find it here.

If you would like to support the mission of Open Culture, consider making a donation to our site. It’s hard to rely 100% on ads, and your contributions will help us continue providing the best free cultural and educational materials to learners everywhere. You can contribute through PayPal, Patreon, Venmo (@openculture) and Crypto. Thanks!

Related Content 

West Point Expert Gives Ukrainians Advice on Conducting Effective Urban Warfare Against Russian Troops

Why is Ukraine in Crisis?: A Quick Primer For Those Too Embarrassed to Ask (2014)



from Art Life Culture https://ift.tt/65xbZqW
via IFTTT

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How a Fake Cartoon Band Made “Sugar Sugar” the Biggest Selling Hit Single of 1969

-
Image
Rock critic Lester Bangs described bubblegum pop as “the basic sound of rock ‘n’ roll – minus the rage, fear, violence and anomie.” The short-lived genre had its roots in the Please Please Me era of the Beatles’ minus the sex and the sarcasm. But from the Beatles we can trace a pretty solid path to the Archies. Not that we deserved this band as an inevitability, but the cartoon concoction is one of a thousand variants from that infectious strain of post-war pop. The Archie’s lasting legacy is one single: the bonafide earworm, “Sugar Sugar.” Written by Jeff Barry and Andy Kim, it was a real number one single (it knocked the Rolling Stones’ “Honky Tonk Woman” off the throne in 1969) sung by a completely fake band, namely the cast of Archie Comics, the five or six perpetual teenagers that have been around since 1941. How we got there, we must go back to the Beatles. Once the Fab Four had started to quickly outgrow their innocent image, King Features turned the four into a Saturday M...
Read more

How to Charge What You Are Worth as a Creative Professional.

-
Image
If you are having difficulty knowing what to charge, then check out your competition and find out what theyíre doing. Find out if they post prices or fees on their website or if they have "packages"  deals.  Do they have payment options? While you are researching, keep in mind just because your competition is charging one way it is not necessarily how you should be charging. One of my clients is a business and life coach.  Most coaches charge for a set number of scheduled phone meetings, which seems to be a standard for "the coaching industry," but that doesnít mean itís the best way. I encourage my clients to charge fees that match who their clients are and what they are trying to accomplish. Itís very refreshing to do what works for you and not necessarily follow the "industry standard."  If you donít feel comfortable with the way your industry charges, by all means, change it.  Just because the industryís doing it doesnít mean that itís right. ...
Read more