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This paper focuses on the protests in Ukraine and seeks to examine the different aspects related to its effect on Ukraine’s relations with the international community. This paper also discusses the role of other political leaders inside Ukraine on the protests and some of the key actors involved. The approach used to write this paper is realistic. Ukraine’s self-interest combined with the economic and military power of Russia is the possible reason of the decision made by Ukraine. As this case basically deals with power and self-interests of countries, realism will best help to understand and comprehend this case.
Summary of Theoretical Approach:
The basic concept of realism is that states pursue power. This power includes military resources. States look to go after war weapons. They may look to make alliances with states with strong military force. A state with strong military can aid the other state in defense against any foreign threat. This way, a state can be seen as powerful due to its alliance even if it does not have strong military force itself. Strong economy is another thing that can make a state powerful. Economic resources can be optimized through trade with other countries and with natural resources. Education is also an important asset in terms of economy because educated people have more potential to earn high salaries and serve the state better. Power can also be achieved in terms of geography. Location of a state can make it important and more states would want to keep good relations with it and ally with it. This again is only due to the fact that other states see some kind of benefit in this alliance. Realists believe that all states directly or indirectly seek this power and stability.
Realists believe that...
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...heories outlined in this paper. One of the defining principles of realism is that the state is paramount to anything else, including morality. Realists argue that deviation from the state interests in an anarchic system creates vulnerability. Morality of state theorists uphold state sovereignty and argue that intervention is not permissible unless the circumstances are crass and warrant action. They talk about aggression as the only crime that one state can commit to another and suggest that aggression should only be allowed as a retaliatory measure. Finally, cosmopolitans believe that morality can be achieved at the individual level and that morality can be somewhat universally applied. Non-realists do not support preemptive actions or intervention under almost any condition, and the criteria by which intervention is warranted aligns with the principles of justice.
The pro-Russian Yanukovich government was powerless against the popular movement of the Ukrainian people who demanded European Integration after the government’s decision to halt talks of the association agreement with the European Union and instead focus on the accession of Ukraine to The peaceful demonstrations that started in November 2013 lasted for months and turned violent in 2014. The Pro-European opposition clashed with the pro-Russian government. In regions where the European influence was strong the local governments were occupied by protestors. The culmination of the Euromaidan was the February Clashes, which became a revolution later on. Even though the movement ended with the signing of the association agreement, the new government had to deal with the difficult aftermath.
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To understand the division of sentiments in Crimea, one needs to understand the intertwined history and culture of Russia, Crimea, and the Ukraine. Culture is a very complex idea without any concrete foundations, and is commonly understood to be the religious, linguistic and ideological processes shared amongst a collection of people. While it may seem easy to depict different cultures in everyday life, that is simply not th...
According to realist view ordering principle of the international system is based on anarchy. There is no higher authority other than the states themselves to check and balance their actions. Consequently, nation-states are the main players in this system. In other words, sovereignty inheres in states, because there is not a higher ruling body in the international system. This is known as state centrism. Survival is an obligation continuing to be sovereign. On the other hand, sovereignty is the characteristic feature of states and its meaning is strongly tied to use of force. According to the most of the realist variants, states are “black boxes”; the determinative factor is states’ observable behavior, not their leaders’ characteristics, their decision making processes or their government systems.
"Why Crimea Is so Dangerous." BBC News. N.p., 11 Mar. 2014. Web. 05 Apr. 2014. .
The realist school is based on the thought that human nature is not perfectible. Human nature is viewed as evil and something that cannot be trusted or counted on. In order to have a successful society the citizens need to be controlled by a strong sovereign government. This strong government would be the only thing able enough to control human nature and the evils it produces. If a strong central government did not exist a state of chaos would be created by the people of the land. One of the leading philosophers of the realist school was Thomas Hobbes. He elaborated on many of the concepts of realism.
People’s ideas and assumptions about world politics shape and construct the theories that help explain world conflicts and events. These assumptions can be classified into various known theoretical perspectives; the most dominant is political realism. Political realism is the most common theoretical approach when it is in means of foreign policy and international issues. It is known as “realpolitik” and emphasis that the most important actor in global politics is the state, which pursues self-interests, security, and growing power (Ray and Kaarbo 3). Realists generally suggest that interstate cooperation is severely limited by each state’s need to guarantee its own security in a global condition of anarchy. Political realist view international politics as a struggle for power dominated by organized violence, “All history shows that nations active in international politics are continuously preparing for, actively involved in, or recovering from organized violence in the form of war” (Kegley 94). The downside of the political realist perspective is that their emphasis on power and self-interest is their skepticism regarding the relevance of ethical norms to relations among states.
Firstly, the state is an important component in the concept of realism. An independent state can be defined as a clear cut territory, under the jurisdiction of supreme government with sovereignty and a permanent population (Jackson, Sorensen 2013: 4). Hobbes claims that, states are the major actors in global, it seeks self-interest and survival; it operates in anarchy, so they emphasize self-help (Heywood 2011: 14).
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