Behind the Masks in Ukraine, Many Faces of Rebellion
C.J Chivers and Noah Sneider. 3 May, 2014
|
|
Issue Overview and Course Connection
This issue is a complete political one, where the western half of the Ukraine wants to be brought into the EU and the other half wants to bring their ties closer with Russia and leave the EU behind, and the capital Kiev is caught in the crossfire. We looked into this exact issue during class, but this article brings the side of the pro Russian militia who are fighting to control the major buildings and the parliament. The interviewer questions about the Russian involvement and if they are acting on their own. The answers that they are given contradict the answers that Russia have been giving out, on how they have not been aiding these pro Russia militia. While the militia group states that they are getting intel and help from Russia. It is a continuation of the proxy wars that were played out during the cold way, but instead of Russia vs USA its Russia vs UN
Key Stakeholders
There are so many stakeholders in the Ukraine uprising, so lets group them in the west which is all of the United Nations and the East which is Russia and to a lesser extent China. What Russia wants, or is interpreted as wanting is the land they lost at the end of WW2. They set out a referendum, one that not a single other country in the world recognized as legal. They want Crimea and there is no way to dance about that statement. it is a valuable economic shipping hub and Russia will greatly benefit from having it. On the other hand there is the west or the United Nations. What they are showing they want is to get Ukraine in a more stable and economic state. There may be underlying factors to this, but they are more likely than not tightly under wraps.
Contributing Factors / Implications
The main contributing factor for this issue is the culture of Ukraine. which is split right down the middle between East and West. The major problem is that the eastern half of Ukraine is majorly Russian speaking and with some even identifying as Russian and not Ukrainian. While the other half wants to go into a more western kind of living. It is the Cultural geography of Ukraine that is contributing to the seemingly imitate civil war.
The implications of a civil war in Ukraine are huge, it could mean that world maps have to be remade. with the East wanting to rejoin Russia it could very well mean that Russia may be regaining some lost land. What follows a war is never good, if Ukraine were to fall into civil war the amount of refuges would be crippling to its neighbors, being Poland, Belarus, and Romania as the major three. The economic outcome for Ukraine would be devastating, it is already not in a good place, having a war would make it so much worse. There is so much bad to happen to the world if Ukraine was to fall into civil war, but it is not looking like there is light the other way.
The implications of a civil war in Ukraine are huge, it could mean that world maps have to be remade. with the East wanting to rejoin Russia it could very well mean that Russia may be regaining some lost land. What follows a war is never good, if Ukraine were to fall into civil war the amount of refuges would be crippling to its neighbors, being Poland, Belarus, and Romania as the major three. The economic outcome for Ukraine would be devastating, it is already not in a good place, having a war would make it so much worse. There is so much bad to happen to the world if Ukraine was to fall into civil war, but it is not looking like there is light the other way.
Bias
This article does a very good job on its ability to remove bias. It presents the facts as well as presenting a side that is more often than not unheard from. That being said they only interviewed the pro Russian group and not any of the Ukrainian military men. They even made the Ukrainian military out to be corrupt by stating that weapons were purchased from them, ones that the Russian militia are fighting them with.