In 1993, Chechnya declared independence from Russia and has since fought for their independence from Russia (Vendina, Belozerov, and Gustafson, “The Wars in Chechnya nd Their Effects on Neighboring Regions,” p. 180). Many critics cite ethnic separatism or economic independence as the reason for the passionate Chechen secessionist movement, but political pressure from radical supporters of Chechen leaders is probably a more accurate explanation. Yeltsin and Putin had different political reasons for their wars in Chechnya, but the Chechen opposition also changed between the two wars, from the Chechen rebel state to individual Chechen warlords and groups. In particular, Russian leaders were enacting a policy of containment in Chechnya, while Chechen leaders shifted from demanding Chechen independence to being instruments of Russian efforts to contain the conflict to Chechnya. The main difference between the two wars was the catalyst for the war, but the underlying reasons for going to war were very similar. President Boris Yeltsin decided to invade Chechnya due to a perceived need to demonstrate that the Russian government was strong and capable of suppressing such an uprising. Yeltsin had a political agenda in which the priority was to institute a federal state where local governments took on a larger role compared to the former soviet state (Hughes, “From Federalisation to Recentralisation,” p. 129). Yeltsin was decentralizing power by granting more legislative powers to the regional governments, but Yeltsin still needed political support from the regional governors in order to pass legislation in the upper house of the Duma (Zhuravskaya, “Federalism in Russia,” p. 61). So Yeltsin started granting selective concessions to carefully... ... middle of paper ... ...r’s position. Ramzan Kadyrov’s strong military presence and the extreme warlords’ disappearance both contribute to less violence in Chechnya, but the conflict instead is expanding to the greater North Caucasus. Russian actors were focused on containing Chechen criminality and instability to Chechnya and Chechen actors shifted from fighting for independence to becoming puppets for the Russian government. However, the different catalysts of the two wars – the first being a response to a declaration of independence and the second being a response to terrorism – are the most significant differences when determining the causality of the wars. Works Cited Treisman, Daniel, "The Return" Vendina, Belozerov, and Gustafson, “The Wars in Chechnya nd Their Effects on Neighboring Regions” Hughes, “From Federalisation to Recentralisation” Zhuravskaya, “Federalism in Russia”
...oved to be singularly influential and daunting. This is, perhaps, the greatest obstacles to achieving true democracy in Russia—the authoritarian and repressive traditions that refuse to die out with the passage of time.
Located between the Moldovan-Ukrainian border and the River Dniester, the territory of Transnistria covers approximately 4160 km2 where over half million people live (Blakkisrud and Kolstø, 2013). In 1992, the civil conflict broke out in Transnistria (Cantir and Kennedy, 2015). When the former 14th Soviet Army interfered with the insurgent side, the Moldovans had to withdraw (Blackkisrud and Kolstø, 2013). It was thanks to Moscow that the attacks and fighting between Moldova and Transnistria were ended in July 1992 (Chamberlain-Creanga and Allin, 2010). Russia´s economic interest in Transnistria resulted in foreign direct investment from Kremlin and Russia also provided a huge financial aid to them. This was also the case of Moscow´s humanitarian
The crisis was getting so far out of hand that the US and the EU had to figure out how to help, so they got involved in the crisis. The Ukraine conflict was triggered by Yanukovych declining the EU deal, and when everything was getting settled down in Ukraine, Russia invades Ukraine. In Ukraine, there are people that are gathering at the Independence Maiden Square in Kiev. They all gathered at the square to rally against their President Yanukovych because he was not doing what they were hoping they would do. The government launched an attack against their own state because of the rallies that are happening.
“Stalingrad is the scene of the costliest and most stubborn battle in this war. The battle fought there to its desperate finish may turn out to be among the decisive battles in the long history of war…In the scale of its intensity, its destructiveness, and its horror, Stalingrad has no parallel. It engaged the full strength of the two biggest armies in Europe and could fit into no lesser framework than that of a life-and death conflict which encompasses the earth”
However pointless this war was it led the Red Army into a conflict that was 3,000 kilometers away from Moscow. The soviet invasion of Afhanistan in 1979 led to international outcries and boycotting of the Moscow Olympic Games by western countries in protest at the actions of the Soviets. This invasion led to the prolonged conflict that involved Pakistan. The Cold War was a term that described the confrontation between the West and communism. I found a paragraph from a website that explains the cold war perfectly. “Direct hostilities never occurred between the United States and the Soviet Union. Instead, the "war" took the form of an arms race involving nuclear and conventional weapons, military alliances, economic warfare and targeted trade embargos, propaganda, and disinformation, espionage and counterespionage, proxy wars in the developing world that garnered superpower support for opposing sides within civil wars.” (New World Encyclopedia). The invasion of 2001 was a response to the plane crash on 9/11. This attack was carried out by 19 fanatical Muslim who were acting on the orders of Al-Qaeda. The Bush administration initiated a bombing campaign and the invasion of Afghanistan try to search and capture Osama Bin
International politics as one may imagine includes foreign affairs. This is why the topic and focus of this paper revolves around the current event within Eastern Europe. It will focus on both Russia, Ukraine, and the world, and from it, it will be analyzed by using the resources provided within class. After all it is a International Politics course, and one of the best ways to effectively put the skills and knowledge to use is to focus on an event or current event. The paper will attempt to go over in a chronological order of the events that has happened, and what is happening currently over in Ukraine. Afterwards, an analyzed input will be implemented providing reasoning behind Russia's actions, and actions of the world, and potentially some solutions.
... both Western Europe and Russia are attempting to impose their view of politics and international relations upon Eastern Europe has caused both sides to exhibit ambivalent stances towards one another, agreeing with one another only when it is their best interests, and disagreeing on many aspects frequently. While both sides wish to become closer to the other, for the obvious economic and strategic benefits, it is unlikely to happen in the near future without a drastic change in one side’s ideology.
Under a backdrop of systematic fear and terror, the Stalinist juggernaut flourished. Stalin’s purges, otherwise known as the “Great Terror”, grew from his obsession and desire for sole dictatorship, marking a period of extreme persecution and oppression in the Soviet Union during the late 1930s. “The purges did not merely remove potential enemies. They also raised up a new ruling elite which Stalin had reason to think he would find more dependable.” (Historian David Christian, 1994). While Stalin purged virtually all his potential enemies, he not only profited from removing his long-term opponents, but in doing so, also caused fear in future ones. This created a party that had virtually no opposition, a new ruling elite that would be unstoppable, and in turn negatively impacted a range of sections such as the Communist Party, the people of Russia and the progress in the Soviet community, as well as the military in late 1930 Soviet society.
The cold war which is the period of tension between the United States and Soviet Union drastically altered life for Americans. The tensions have still been escalating to this period. In World War 2 Russia was an ally of the us and England because the war against Germany. Although Stalin was considered a devil because of how he treated his people; he was a totalitarian dictator murdered people left and right, the political and military relationship between Russia has been on rocky ground ever since then. The fear of nuclear destruction had a big part to do with higher education, economy, immigration policy, civil rights and civil liberties. A period of time known as the red scare which was also known as the red menace had a profound effect on the American society as a whole It had an direct impact on the lives of Americans for instance with the launch of sputnik 1 which was launched in 1957 the us took measures to launch an overhaul in science education. This satellite launch emphasized that the Soviet Union had trampled the us into space. . As mentioned in a speech by Precedent john F Kennedy June, 10, 1963 “it is an ironic but accurate fact; that the two strongest powers are the two with the most danger of devastation. All we have built, all we have worked for would be destroyed in the first 24 hrs and even in the cold war with brings burdens and dangers to so many countries including this nations closest allies our two countries bare the heaviest burdens. For wee are both devoting massive sums of money to weapons. That could be better devoted to combat ignorance, poverty and disease.” (kennedy) Mad short for Mutual assured destruction or also referred to as mutual suicide on September 1867 Sec. of Defense Robert McNamara be...
Imagine waking up one day to the thundering of blows given at the door telling you to “open up or be shot down.” It is the Serb police, and they are telling you that you and your whole family had to leave your home immediately. This is how it went for many Albanian people during what some Serb extremists called “demographic genocide.” This was the beginning of what many would call the Kosovo War, and it lasted from March to June 1999. After NATO’s intervention in Kosovo, something strange happened. Now the people being victimized were the Serbs and anyone who was “friendly” to them. In this paper, I will speak about what happened before and after the war in Kosovo.
...d 50,000 casualties (Effective human rights work is the best weapon against terrorism). There are nonviolent ways of dealing with oppression, following Gandhi’s example, and even the Boston Tea Party which brought changes with little violence. This Chechen conflict has been on-going for over 200 years, and unfortunately terrorist leaders continue to think terrorism will advance their cause even after much time has passed (Dershowitz 166).
In the past ten years the Afghan Government has been dealing with a number of issues that have caused problems for the country, problems such as illegal drug trade, terrorism and violence. But nowadays they are fighting a problem that has long existed between people, and quite recently has taken a whole new aspect to it. Ethnic conflict is the destructive factor that has caused problems between people for generations, often leading to fights, outbreak of violence and grudge between different ethnicities.
The Russian Government did not approve this and President Yeltsin declared war against the newborn regime in 1994. Yeltsin feared that if they had not declared war the other Caucasus states may have followed suit, to prevent this they preferred to curb it at the out set. The second Chechen war, which began in September 1999, was a result of the actions taken by Russia in the first war and was a product of the same policies. The fight for independence for Chechnya has been ongoing since the Bolshevik Revolution and is one that will be fought well into the future if something is not done about it now.
The Ukrainian crisis was a result of social upheaval against the former president, Mr. Yanukovich, who decided to pull out of the association with the European Union (BBC News, 2014). The upheaval that lasted for about two months resulted in more than 100 people killed (NY Times, 2014). In February 22 Mr. Yanukovich disappears and the opposition takes control over the government in Ukraine (BBC News, 2014). Upon learning that Mr. Yanukovich is currently residing in Kazakhstan, the new government of Ukraine requests from Kazakhstan the extradition of the overthrown president, who is accused of crime against the Ukrainian citizenry.
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).