...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...
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...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...
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...the history of the East Ukrainian conflict and recent annexation of the Crimean Peninsula by Putin-led Russia brings one to the scene of Ukraine’s former president, Viktor Yanukovych, facing a difficult choice while his country plowed toward economic cataclysm. He could either opt to form deeper ties with Europe in the form of a long-term, initially challenging deal with the EU to bolster trade, or join the Eurasian Union, for which Putin offered an appealing reward package instantaneously. The pro-Russian president of Ukraine at the time decided not to sign the agreement with the EU in the fall of 2013. This EU agreement wasn’t merely a trade agreement, but also a political agreement through which Ukraine would commit to adhering to certain European values and principles. Following this, widespread demonstrations broke out across Kiev, the city’s capital, in what is considered the Ukrainian Revolution. It is important to note, without overemphasizing, that Ukraine has a history of political and cultural divide, with the West (including the capital of Kiev), leaning more towards Europe, while the East having stronger ties with Russia. In the public’s eye, failure to sign the agreement from EU marked a move away from European principles and values. In the wake of the Ukrainian Revolution, then President Viktor Yanukovych fled the capital, which resulted in the Ukrainian parliament deposing him and appointing an interim President, Oleksandr Turchynov, followed by the formation of...
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...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 was downgraded to the Crimean Oblast, and in 1954 the Crimean Oblast was transferred to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. It became the Autonomous Republic of Crimea within newly independent Ukraine in 1991, with Sevastopol having its own administration, within Ukraine but outside of the Autonomous Republic. Sovereignty and control of the peninsula...
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...Tadeusz Iwański The countries of Eastern European and China have been increasingly interested in deepening bilateral contacts over the past few years. In the case of Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova this has been caused by the bad economic situation which was in part caused by the consequences of the global economic crisis of 2008 and the desire to establish closer political relations with a country whose significance on the international arena is continually growing. Each of these countries has different expectations regarding the scale and the nature of co-operation with China. Chisinau wishes only to boost trade, whereas in Minsk and Kyiv, Beijing is also presented as a strategic partner whose investments may not only help the indebted economies recover but also strengthen the position of these countries in their dealings with the EU, and especially with Russia. Beijing sees co-operation with these countries in differently, and its offer is much more modest than Belarus and Ukraine are expecting. Eastern Europe is one of the last parts of the world with which China is activating its co-operation. This is not a priority region for Beijing. China wants to derive economic benefits and to diversify the markets on which it invests its financial surplus, and it does not intend to extend its political dialogue with Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova beyond the framework which determines its economic interests. The main reason for this is the nature of relations between Russia and China. Beijing...
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...financial results. Specifically, Schweitzer needs to consider what her position is on adopting the company’s financial projections for the future, the firm’s dividend policy and the compensation package that should be offered to the leader of international expansion, Oleg Pinchuck. There are other areas of Deutsche Brauerei’s operations however, that it appears worthwhile for Schweitzer to assess. These include Deutsche Brauerei’s practise of taking on excessive short-term debt, and the subsequent effect that has on the firm’s working capital. A further impact on Deutsche Brauerei’s working capital could be as a result of the effect of Pinchuck’s extremely relaxed accounts receivable in Ukraine. Finally, Schweitzer should evaluate the benefits and shortfalls of the firm’s aggressive expansion into Ukraine. Dividends Declaration Policy: Deutsche Brauerei is currently enjoying a high growth rate in sales, for 2001 the projected growth rate is approximately 48%. It is unusual that a firm that is so successful at generating sales is taking on such a large amount of short-term debt. One of the principle reasons Deutsche Brauerei has such a large amount of short term borrowings is the pressure they are put under to provide such a substantial dividend payment to shareholders. The largest financial demand’s the firm is currently facing is that they require EUR 7 million for investment in new plant and equipment in 2001 and according to the projections of Pinchuk, are planning to maintain...
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...Ukraine is a relatively young independent country that had to build up its own sovereignty, its social, political and economical life under a strong influence of communist totalitarian system of the former USSR. Nowadays, Ukraine is in a very difficult situation, particularly in the context of recent presidential elections. Ukrainian economy is really in a big trouble because what we have observed since 1991 when this country got its independence may be characterized by one word – stagnation, though more radical people would call it agony because the rate of real unemployment is very high, foreign investments are insignificant particularly in comparison with its neighbors such as Poland, Czech Republic, or Hungary, bank system is just starting to develop and is far from international standards, industry and agriculture develops but do not achieve even the level of 1990, the same may be said about GNP, finally, the country is regionally unequally divided into industrial East and Center and mainly agricultural West and North. On analyzing the situation I strongly recommend to the Ukrainian government to start changes and the earlier it is done the better for Ukraine. Firstly, I want to underline that to overcome all the obstacles to prosperity of Ukraine we have to know what are causes of economical problems. I think that the principle cause is the lack of radicalism of Ukrainian reforms and not only economical but administrative and political as well. Practically, all reforms...
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...the same history or the same roots may have poor intercultural communication because of some stereotypes or bias. The best example is the relations between Russia and Ukraine. If to consider the last years, a special trim can be observed in the relations of Russia and Ukraine in all of the questions connected with the Russian-Ukrainian relations. Geographically it divides the country into east and western part and with time the situation only gets worse. This is mostly the problem. Not only language and geography split the country but also the world outlook principle as well. The main problem of the Ukrainian authority today is how to connect these differently looking at the world and destiny parts of the country through a prism of the Russian-Ukrainian relations. The actions of the Ukrainian authority at the process of solving this problem are quite contradictory. On the one hand, there is an understanding of necessity to move toward Russia, but on the other hand, the movement seems to be in an opposite direction. First, it concerns the gas conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The intense relations between these two countries in the sphere of gas relations have already become a bad tradition. The misunderstanding level between them frequently leads to faults with the deliveries of the Russian gas to Ukraine...
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...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...
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...How the U.S. Should Support Ukraine Recently, Russia has been moving their military forces into the neighboring country of Ukraine with the intended goal of trying to take control over some of the land. It is the belief of many people that Russia hopes to divide up Ukraine permanently. The United States government is considering a few different possible responses to the movements being made. One possible solution currently being debated upon is for the United States to send in our own military forces. Although a unified Ukraine is in the best interest of America, the United States should not use military action to help the Ukrainian government push Russia outside its borders. The crisis began last year in November when former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych announced that Ukraine was leaving from an agreement designed to build a bond with the European Union. The government was intending to work more closely with the Russian government in Moscow. As a result, many protestors went out in public and continued to seize the Kiev City Hall in December. Critical events ensued as a few protestors died during a demonstration with the police being involved. Several days later, the prime minister of Ukraine resigned and anti-protest laws were repealed by parliament. Soon after that, violence in the street occurred, leaving as many as twenty-six people dead and hundreds injured. Yanukovych fled the country after a political coup took place and the opposition leader, Yulia Tymoshenko...
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...History of Ukraine and Russian Conflict To better understand the origins of this conflict, one must realize that this divide is not natural but rather stems from murderous work by Joseph Stalin and one of the largest Western media cover-ups in history. East Ukraine was once as nationalistic and Ukrainian-speaking as Western Ukraine is today. The dramatic transformation of the area was a result of ethnic cleansing. In 1932 a famine engineered by Stalin killed up to an estimated 10 million people, mostly in East Ukraine. Beginning in 1933, the Soviets replaced them with millions of deported Russians. Western Ukraine was then part of Poland and spared Stalin engineered the famine to rid himself of a stubborn enemy. Ukrainians had fought for their independence during the Russian Revolution, and for a short time, they had beaten back the Reds. Beginning in 1932, Stalin sent in soldiers from Russia to seize the agriculture industry in Ukraine. Impossible production quotas were set, and the overzealous soldiers made sure every single ounce of grain went to meeting those quotas. Soviet soldiers destroyed cooking utensils, ovens and killed pets — anything that could provide nourishment. With the borders of Ukraine sealed by the military, starving Ukrainians, wandering blind and delirious from hunger, were trapped to die a slow, excruciating death. To understand better what Stalin did in simple words he slowly killed de natives Ukrainians of Crimea by starving them to death and...
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...Operating a Goodwill in Ukraine Abstract The Ukraine is currently experiencing a crisis which started when former President Viktor Yanukovych disregarded a deal with The European Union for strong relations with Russia. Riots have been going on for over a year and gangs have formed. The number of deaths occurring are increasing, while The Happy Planet Index scored The Ukraine a 37.6 and is ranked number 100 out of 150 countries. There are many influences regarding business in The Ukraine including: cultural, economic, legal, political, and government. The Ukraine is involved in some international organizations including The United Nations. When trying to open and operate a Goodwill in The Ukraine there will be many importing, exporting, and marketing strategies. By opening and operating a Goodwill in Ukraine, there is an opportunity for the company to help the citizens who are effected by the crisis which may help bring The Happy Planet Index for the country up. Operating a Goodwill in Ukraine The Ukraine has a long historical background. From the beginning of The Ukraine’s creation to the year 1712, there has been four significant periods. “During the Miocene Period in Tertiary Age of Cenozoic Era, some 12 million years ago, most of Ukraine was covered by sea” (Hrushevs'ky, Skoryk, "History of Ukraine"). Between the years 879 and 1913, The Ukraine had been dominated by several groups. Originally, The Ukraine was divided between three Princes who were brothers. PriceVolodymyr...
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...Faizan Ahmed Khan 15020568 Professor Erum Haider Pol 320 6 May 2014 How do social media shape the social movements in modern times? A comparative study of Ukraine Crimea crisis and Egyptian revolution for democracy! A social movement can look like and be called many things. Whatever their appearance or name, the goal of all social movements is presumably the same: a change for the better. If this is indeed the ultimate objective of a social movement, it is well worth considering how successfully a movement achieves that objective. In the past ten years, several social movements have grabbed the world’s attention for the change they promised. Deemed successful for achieving their goal of change, though not necessarily change for the better, further evaluations have been sparsely performed. However, in judging social movements, what happens is shaped to a greater degree by the media, specifically. We shall look at modern day Egypt and Ukraine in our analysis. The effect of social media—and the Internet more generally—in both sets of protests is undeniable yet also distracting. Like most historic events, these protests and revolutions were in part possible due to a new technology. Flipping through the pages of history we see that The Reformation in Europe was aided by the invention of the printing press; the revolutions of 1848 occurred in some respect thanks to the invention of the telegraph which transmitted news across Europe of one set of protests overnight; the age of modern...
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...The Relationship between the Crimean Crisis and Globalization Introduction Beginning in late November, the Ukraine crisis has become a worldwide headline that has encompassed a complex number of 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...
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...tensions between Russia and Ukraine, over natural gas prices and distribution, that started to rise in winter of 2009 and affected the most part of Europe, that has not been completely solved until present day. On January 7th 2009 after disagreement over natural gas prices, Russia completely shut off gas supplies to Ukraine. Therefore, Ukraine shuts off the natural gas supplies to Europe, which created another conflict involving other countries. With intense European pressure after a week of debating and arguing, Russia and Ukraine were forced to reach an agreement for its gas prices. This crisis showed that foreign policymakers should not forget that Ukraine is one of the largest state in Europe and they should count in, besides the week economic growth, it still holds a lot of power of natural gas pipelines that runs through it. After the agreement was reached it was set that the prices for gas in the first quarter of 2009 will be $360 per 1000cubic meters, and when Ukraine will purchase over 60% of its annual gas from Russia it will be $200 per 1000 cubic meter. Furthermore, Russian policymakers were pushing Ukrainian government to give up some pipelines towards Russian advantage, due to Ukraine being unreliable source of distribution of natural gas (economically and technologically). With the inside of the both countries political wars for the presidential elections, it was extremely hard to reach an agreement that would benefit everyone. During this crisis the Ukrainian president...
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