Crisis in Ukraine

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Prior to Russian invasion, civil conflict erupted in Ukraine; the conflicting matter was over Ukraine’s new pro-western leadership. Many were concerned that Ukraine’s fondness of western ideas would prompt the country to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).
Currently, Ukraine is located in the middle of a new crisis; this time, however, it is not a civil matter. Russia and Ukraine are a in a strife over Crimea. This conflict is particularly concerning because of Crimea’s history.
Russian president Vladimir Putin described the essence of the conflict in a speech, Monday, March 17, when he said:
“After the revolution, the Bolsheviks, for a number of reasons—may God judge them—added large sections of the historical South of Russia to the Republic of Ukraine. This was done with no consideration for the ethnic makeup of the population, and today these areas form the southeast of Ukraine. Then, in 1954, a decision was made to transfer the Crimean region to Ukraine, along with Sevastopol, despite the fact that it was a city of union subordination. This was the personal initiative of the Communist Party head Nikita Khrushchev. What stood behind this decision of his—a desire to win the support of the Ukrainian political establishment or to atone for the mass repressions of the nineteen-thirties in Ukraine—is for historians to figure out …”
In this excerpt, Putin describes a short history of Crimea and the frustration of Russia with Ukraine’s pro-western leadership. On March 18, a day after his speech, Putin announced the annexation of Crimea; two days after the “semiautonomous country” approved a referendum separating it from Ukraine. This declaration has the world on edge, but why? To understand why one must first understa...

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...es. The New York Times, 20 Mar. 2014. Web. 24 Mar. 2014. .
Lister, Tim, Nina Dos Santos, and Victoria Butenko. "Crimea Remarries -- but That Divorce Will Be Messy." CNN. Cable News Network, 18 Mar. 2014. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.
"NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organization." NATO. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2014. .
Polityuk, Pavel. "PM Tells Ukrainians: No NATO Membership, Armed Groups to Disarm." Yahoo! News. Yahoo!, 18 Mar. 2014. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. .
Yueh, Linda. "The Impact of Economic Sanctions on Russia." BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation, 21 Mar. 2014. Web. 21 Mar. 2014. .

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