...Крымский полуостров, Ukrainian: Кримський півострів, Crimean Tatar: Qırım yarımadası), also known simply as Crimea, is a major land mass on the northern coast of the Black Sea that is almost completely surrounded by water. The peninsula is located south of the Ukrainian mainland and west of the Russian region of Kuban. It is surrounded by two seas: the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov to the east. It is connected with the Ukrainian mainland by the Isthmus of Perekop and is separated from Kuban by the Strait of Kerch. The Arabat Spit is located to the northeast; a narrow strip of land that separates a system of lagoons named Sivash from the Sea of Azov. Crimea—or the Tauric Peninsula, as it was formerly known—has historically been at the boundary between the classical world and the Pontic-Caspian steppe. Its southern fringe was colonised by the ancient Greeks, the ancient Romans, the Byzantine Empire, and the Ottoman Empire, while at the same time its interior was occupied by a changing cast of invading steppe nomads, such as the Cimmerians, Scythians, Sarmatian, Goths, Alans, Bulgars, Huns, Khazars, Kipchaks, and the Golden Horde. Crimea and adjacent territories were united in the Crimean Khanate during the 15th to 18th century before falling to the Russian Empire and being organised as its Taurida Oblast in 1783. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, Crimea became a republic within the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic in the USSR. In World War Two it...
Words: 385 - Pages: 2
...The Autonomous Republic of Crimea (Ukrainian: Автономна Республіка Крим, Avtonomna Respublika Krym; Russian: Автономная Республика Крым, Avtonomnaya Respublika Krym; Crimean Tatar: Qırım Muhtar Cumhuriyeti, Къырым Мухтар Джумхуриети) is[6][7] an autonomous republic in the southeastern region of Ukraine.[8][9][10] The Autonomous Republic of Crimea composes most of the Crimean peninsula, a peninsula on the northern coast of the Black Sea. The Ukrainian city of Sevastopol is also on the peninsula. The Cimmerians, Bulgars, Greeks, Scythians, Goths, Huns, Khazars, the state of Kievan Rus', Byzantine Greeks, Kipchaks, Ottoman Turks, Golden Horde Tatars and the Mongols each controlled Crimea in its earlier history. In the 13th century, it was partly controlled by the Venetians and by the Genoese; they were followed by the Crimean Khanate and the Ottoman Empire in the 15th to 18th centuries, the Russian Empire in the 18th to 20th centuries, Germany during World War II and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and later the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, within the Soviet Union during the rest of the 20th century until Crimea became part of independent Ukraine with the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. The Autonomous Republic of Crimea is an autonomous parliamentary republic within Ukraine[8] and is governed by the Constitution of Crimea in accordance with the laws of Ukraine. The capital and administrative seat of the republic's government is the city of Simferopol...
Words: 394 - Pages: 2
...The Secession of Crimea The crisis in Ukraine has been long cooking since 2004 and the Orange Revolution (1). Since then, there has been a strong opposition to pro-Russian supporters. The situation in the country was relatively calm until 2010, when President Yanukovich won elections and his rival candidate, Yulia Timoshenko, was arrested. In November 2013 the protests started gaining velocity, violent conflicts erupted and opposition blew up in Kiev, responding to Yanukovich’s new agreement on working closer with Russia, whilst stopping negotiations with the European Union. The conflicts did not reach the Crimean peninsula, nevertheless the Crimean Parliament, which is granted limited autonomy, asked Russia to protect them. Crimea has been part of the Ukrainian state –or formerly the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic- since 1954 and provides great strategic value, since the Black Sea ports of Crimea offer unproblematic access to the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. Crimea has been the base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet for several decades and is therefore of great importance to Russian military strategy. For the Russian Federation, the base in Sevastopol is the only access into international waters, since the northern ports in e.g. Siberia are subject to freezing. According to the State Statistics Committee of Ukraine, the population is composed of 58.5% ethic Russians, 24.4% Ukrainians and 12.1% Crimean Tartars among others, amounting to a total population of approximately...
Words: 2091 - Pages: 9
...The concept state has been explained or received numerous definitions based on the understanding of some political scholars as well as the definition giving to it by any other academic discipline base on how they understand it. Their definitions seek to distinguish the concept state from nation and how it elaborate on its similarities and differences. According to Max Weber, a state is the organisation that maintains a monopoly of violence over a territory. Also, Dr. Bossman defines the state as a clearly defined area with its own government that exercises authority over its population. Moreover Patrick O’Neil, explains a state as an institution that seek to yield the majority of force within a territory, establishing order and deterring challenges from inside and out. Generally, a state may be defined as a geographically well-defined area with a boundary, territory and a government with power to exercise authority over its members called citizens. On the other hand, the word nation is defined from the Latin word natus which means birth. The word nation can also mean a group that a person is born into and have linkage [ethnos] or ethnicity. According to Thomas Magstadt and Peter Scihotten, the term nation refers to people who share a common value including any or all of following; geographical location, history, racial and ethnic characteristics, religion, language, culture and beliefs and common political ideas. According to Ernest Baker, a nation is a body...
Words: 2962 - Pages: 12
...both intranational and international issues. The catalyzing event that led to the crisis was the decision by former Ukrainian President, Viktor Yanukovych, to negate trade talks with the European Union and instead pursue closer ties with Russia. This spurred protests from thousands of people, and as the conflict escalated it forced Yanukovych to escape the Ukraine and secede from his position as the Ukrainian President. In a move that can be seen as blatantly opportunistic, Russia effectively used the civil calamity in the Ukraine to annex the Republic of Crimea, a move regarded as highly illegal by the majority of the international community. On the surface, Russia has claimed that the move itself has been carried out to ensure the continued safety of ethnic Russians living within the Republic. However, after careful analyzation of the economic ties that bind Russia and the Ukraine, one can conclude that the annexation of Crimea is part of a larger plan to ensure that the Ukraine continues to comply with Russia economically. When applying this theory through the context of a realist perspective, it becomes obvious that Russia is acting in their own self-interest as a power maximizer in order to ward off the influence of western globalization. In response to increasing Russian aggression several countries have placed economic sanctions on Russia and its diplomats in a passive aggressive strategy aimed at alleviating the tension within the Ukraine. The notion of placing these sanctions...
Words: 2141 - Pages: 9
...Assignment #4: Russia Annexation of Crimea International Negotiation by Therron Allen Reginald Bruno Monekka Munroe Lillia Stroud Norman Thompson ------------------------------------------------- EDD 7812 OL1 32446 ------------------------------------------------- Strategies and Models of Mediation and Negotiation Nova Southeastern University April 13th, 2014 ------------------------------------------------- Russia Annexation of Crimea ------------------------------------------------- This paper will address the Russia annexation of Crimea and an International Negotiation related To the UN resolution for the West to increase the level of sanctions against Russia. Russia finalized its annexation of Crimea in March 2014. Although sudden, this annexation is not a new and instantaneous interest for the Russian government. There is a long history connecting these two countries dating back to many years ago. ------------------------------------------------- Parties involved in the conflict ------------------------------------------------- This international conflict involves the entire world as each country was interested in a peaceful resolution. Countries sharing a border with Russia are extremely anxious and fearful their security may be threatened as a result of this conflict. Therefore, the primary parties in this conflict is represented by the United Nations (UN) representing international law and security; Ukraine, the injured party; Russia...
Words: 4331 - Pages: 18
...Federation. From the perspective of international law, it should be undoubtedly called a crime of aggression: The devious methods used by political and military leadership of Russia to cover the armed invasion of the Ukraine (operations of special units; the units and equipment of the regular Russian army without insignia, which were sent to Ukraine, the use of civilians, including women and children, as human shields in the takeovers of Ukrainian military bases and the financing and supply of arms to mercenaries; Subversion of Russian secret services; the use of propaganda mechanisms and more) aggravate the responsibility of Russia as aggressor. For the first time beginning with Crimea, Russian soldiers without insignias took control of strategic positions and infrastructure within the Ukrainian territory of Crimea. The fact that a State has used the first force against another state, is the most important main criterion of aggression. Article 2 of General Assembly resolution 3314 of the United Nations, "Definition of Aggression”, which was adopted on 14 December 1974 represents "The first use of armed force by a State in contravention of the Charter shall constitute prima facie evidence of an act of aggression ". According article 3 of UN General Assembly Resolution 3314: “There is no legal significance whether the war was officially declared, it is subject to and in accordance with the use of armed force by a State against another qualify as an act of aggression. Invasion of the...
Words: 958 - Pages: 4
...Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the administratively separate municipality of Sevastopol; both are populated by an ethnic Russian majority and a minority of both ethnic Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars. The demographics of Crimea have undergone dramatic changes in the past centuries.[a][b][c][41] The crisis unfolded in late February 2014 in the aftermath of the Ukrainian revolution, when—after months of protests by Euromaidan and days of violent clashes between protesters and police in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev—the Ukrainian parliament held a vote to impeach the President of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych.[42][43] However the vote failed to reach the three-fourths majority required to impeach a President according to the Constitution of Ukraine.[44][45] Russian President Vladimir Putin said President Yanukovych was illegally impeached and that he regards him as Ukraine’s legitimate president.[46][d] This was followed by the interim appointment of the Yatsenyuk Government as well as the appointment of a new Acting President of Ukraine, Oleksandr Turchynov—seen by Russia as "self-proclaimed"—in a "coup d'etat".[46][e][f][g] Beginning on 26 February, pro-Russian forces gradually took control of the Crimean peninsula. Russia claimed that the uniformed men were local self-defense forces, but they are widely believed to be Russian military personnel without insignia.[51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58] Several days later, on March 11, after disagreements between Crimea, Sevastopol, and the...
Words: 324 - Pages: 2
...slightly smaller than Belgium. It is Ukraine's only formally autonomous region, with Simferopol as its capital. Sevastopol has a separate status within Ukraine. It's best known in the West as the site of the 1945 Yalta Conference, where Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill sealed the postwar division of Europe. History Crimea was absorbed into the Russian empire along with most of ethnic Ukrainian territory by Catherine the Great in the 18th century. Russia's Black Sea naval base at Sevastopol was founded soon afterwards. More than half a million people were killed in the Crimean War of 1853-56 between Russia and the Ottoman Empire, which was backed by Britain and France. The conflict reshaped Europe and paved the way for World War One. In 1921, the peninsula, then populated mainly by Muslim Tatars, became part of the Soviet Union. The Tatars were deported en masse by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin at the end of World War Two for alleged collaboration with the Nazis. Why Crimea is part of Ukraine Crimea only became part of Ukraine when Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev gave the peninsula to his native land in 1954. This hardly mattered until the Soviet Union broke up...
Words: 724 - Pages: 3
...The Crimean war is one of the most memorable and significant wars fought in 19th century Europe. It was a conflict that affected all of Europe from a geographical standpoint since Russia came to war with Britain, France, and Turkey after the decay of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire called upon the aid of the British and French to help them in repelling the Russians, who wanted to expand their geopolitical interests as well as financial dependence. The result of every war has its winners and casualties, who suffer the consequences of the aftermath. Russia strived to gain territory in its attempt for even greater European conquest, but failed and lost its dominating title and leading position in Europe as well as Asia. The Crimean War is a pertinent historical event that marked Russian attempt to conquer in order to become a dominant hegemony in Europe and where the outcomes of the war geographically changed Europe as well as affected people’s nationalistic/identity beliefs. Often times named one of the bloodiest battles, yet technologically advanced wars of the nineteenth century; the Crimean war was a vital event in European history. It was a conflict where Russia lost to an alliance of France, the United Kingdom, the Ottoman Empire, after Russia’s attempt to expand commercial and strategic designs as the Ottoman Empire was slowly deteriorating . The fall of the Empire would allow Russia to gain control and obtain the Dardanelles, as well as naval access to the Mediterranean...
Words: 2247 - Pages: 9
...Crimea is a peninsula in Eastern Europe with an estimated population of 2.4 million comprising mainly Russians, Ukranians and Crimean Tatars. It is surrounded by the Black sea and the Sea of Azov. Crimea and adjacent territories were a part of the Crimean Khanate between the 15th to 18th Century before being merged with the Russian Empire. After the 1917 Russian Revolution Crimea became a Republic within the Russian Republic in the then USSR. In 1954, it became part of Ukraine within the then USSR. In 1991, when Ukraine attained independence, Crimea became the autonomous Republic of Crimea. The Russian Black Sea Fleet was, under a treaty, allowed to be stationed at Sevastapol and permitted to establish naval and military bases. The Crimean economy sustains itself mainly on tourism and agriculture. Other significant industrial enterprises can be found in sectors including chemicals, engineering and fuel production. There are several on shore and off shore natural gas fields. The Crimean people wish to state on record the events leading upto the current state of affairs. The then Ukrainian President, His Excellency Viktor Yanukovych deferred approval to the Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement. Ukraine struck a deal with Russia which, inter alia, mandated Russian buyout of $15 billion worth of Ukrainian bonds, and gave a 1/3 discount on gas prices to Ukraine. This abandoning of the Ukraine-EU agreement sparked off major protests at the Euromaidan in Kiev, Ukraine's capital...
Words: 514 - Pages: 3
...Kairoldaeva Symbat(I.R-244) Response paper: Crimea March 16, 2014 in Crimea and Sevastopol held a referendum, which resulted in about 97% of the voters of the Republic and 95.6% of the voters of the city voted for reunification of the peninsula with Russia. Two days later, on March 18 in St. George's Hall in the Kremlin signed an agreement on the inclusion of the Crimea and Sevastopol in the Russian Federation. According to the Constitution of Ukraine Crimea had no right to hold a referendum on self-determination on their own, without a general Ukrainian referendum and without amending the basic law of Ukraine. Yes, if the state of Ukraine retained its constitutional order - holding such a referendum would be illegal and impossible. Russia And it never would in this form are not supported. However, the Constitution of Ukraine was grossly violated by the Verkhovna Rada deputies who changed his own oath, and the central government - seized by force. Under these conditions, a completely legitimate authorities of the Autonomous Republic exercised their direct authority, according to his own Constitution (approved even legitimate authorities of Ukraine), which expressly provides for the right to conduct local, national referendums. Such a referendum they held. In my opinion reunification of peninsula with Russia was good idea. Russia grossly violated the borders of a neighboring state illegally entering its troops on its sovereign territory, in fact carried out a military...
Words: 487 - Pages: 2
...Should the US have a taken firmer response to Russia’s intervention in Ukraine? The conflict in Ukraine has exposed the dark side of interdependence as the international community struggles to ratchet up sanctions against Russian aggression in Crimea Peninsula. Although a firm action on part of the US might be justifiable, it will not serve American interests. This paper will first discuss why strict action might lead to undesirable consequences, followed by three final set of recommendations presenting future course of action. 1. Why serious sanctions might backfire: Collective sanctions announced have already put enough pressure on the Russian’s to de-escalate the situation, but further penalties might just end up doing the opposite (Lorber, 2014). Eastern European and Central Asian states poses valuable natural resources and firm sanctions might lead to further Russian adventurism. Moreover, Germany gets more than 30% of oil and gas from Russia, and other European countries including former Soviet blocks with already fragile economies are 100 percent dependent on Russian energy (BBC, 2014). With European reluctance, any unilateral firm action may divide us leading to further instability. In other words, US should carefully design safer sanctions so that European states are less affected than the Oligarchs close to Putin. 2. Further, sanctions have brought China- an emerging power- much closer to Russia. With $400 billion gas deal Russia will have alternate markets for...
Words: 805 - Pages: 4
...moving in, what will the Eagle do? On February 28, Russian troop aided by the pro-Moscow militant group occupied strategic sites and building across the Crimean Peninsula under the pretense of “protecting Russian people.” Now Crimea is under the direct control of Moscow. The Russian parliament has voted to annex the region into the Russian Federation. There was a mass rally in the capital of Ukraine. The demonstration brought down the Russian backed President Viktor Yanukovych. Moscow could not tolerate this. So they decided to violate the Ukrainian territorial integrity and invaded Crimea. Soon after the invasion there was a dubious referendum in Crimea under the watchful eyes of Russian troop. About ninety six percentage of the population voted to join Russia. So now the Crimea is an independent province of Russian Federation. This is a failure for the Obama administration’s foreign policy in Europe. U.S reduced its forces in Europe in the recent years and this led the Russians to be more aggressive toward their European neighbors. Let us look at some of the article for proof. The editorial “After Crimea” published in April 2014 in the magazine America, says “the United States and the European allies are in no position to push the Russians out of Crimea.” This editorial suggests that the United States and NATO should increase sanction against Russia. Rather than going to war with the Russians. Impose sanction to bring down the Russian ruble and their stock market. Editorial...
Words: 1020 - Pages: 5
...The Crisis of Crimea and Ukraine Key Lessons for President Obama from Presidents Reagan and Clinton [pic] SOURCE: AP/Greg Gibson President Bill Clinton reads a statement at the conclusion of the NATO 50th anniversary summit, Sunday April 25, 1999, in the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington. By Rudy deLeon and Aarthi Gunasekaran | May 14, 2014 In the past two months, the Crimea and Ukraine crisis has grown. Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula, the Ukrainian government and pro-Russian militia are engaged in a back and forth standoff in eastern Ukraine, and Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened that the conflict “essentially puts the nation on the brink of civil war.” The United States has been at the forefront of building international support for Ukraine, and the Obama administration continues to assemble Western support. However, efforts to reach a diplomatic settlement, or at least to reduce immediate tensions, are still in progress. As the Obama administration prepares its next steps in response to Russia in Ukraine, it can examine lessons from two other administrations in times of crisis. First, the Reagan administration’s reaction in 1983 to the Soviet downing of a civilian Korean airliner and its response to the terrorist attack against U.S. Marines on a peacekeeping mission in Lebanon. Second, the Clinton administration’s initiative to proactively expand and deepen partnerships in Europe during the 1990s through its Partnership for Peace. President...
Words: 3876 - Pages: 16
