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“A short and insightful primer” to the crisis in Ukraine and its implications for both the Crimean Peninsula and Russia’s relations with the West (New York Review of Books)
The current conflict in Ukraine has spawned the most serious crisis between Russia and the West since the end of the Cold War. It has undermined European security, raised questions about NATO's future, and put an end to one of the most ambitious projects of U.S. foreign policy—building a partnership with Russia. It also threatens to undermine U.S. diplomatic efforts on issues ranging from terrorism to nuclear proliferation. And in the absence of direct negotiations, each side is betting that political and economic pressure will force the other to blink first. Caught in this dangerous game of chicken, the West cannot afford to lose sight of the importance of stable relations with Russia.
This book puts the conflict in historical perspective by examining the evolution of the crisis and assessing its implications both for the Crimean Peninsula and for Russia’s relations with the West more generally. Experts in the international relations of post-Soviet states, political scientists Rajan Menon and Eugene Rumer clearly show what is at stake in Ukraine, explaining the key economic, political, and security challenges and prospects for overcoming them. They also discuss historical precedents, sketch likely outcomes, and propose policies for safeguarding U.S.-Russia relations in the future. In doing so, they provide a comprehensive and accessible study of a conflict whose consequences will be felt for many years to come.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
January 16, 2015 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9780262327831
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9780262327831
- File size: 1183 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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May 1, 2015
Menon (Anne and Bernard Spitzer Chair in Political Science, City Coll. of New York; The End of Alliances) and Rumer (director and senior associate, Russia and Eurasia Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; Russian Foreign Policy Beyond Putin) have accomplished the difficult task of convincingly identifying the enduring factors in an ongoing crisis. The authors believe that Ukraine's likely fate is to be locked in a "frozen conflict," similar to others involving Russia in the post-Soviet world. More precisely, a deeply divided Ukraine confronts a weakened and isolated Russia, having forfeited influence over Kyiv by annexing Crimea. A more interesting assertion is that the situation was not deliberately Kremlin designed but occurred through events in Ukraine and Russia "well beyond [Putin's] control." The collapse of the Viktor Yanukovych regime and the downing of the Malaysian airliner fall into this category, but they do not lessen structural conflict between Russian "Eurasianism" and the quest of the broader EU. Also, as we are reminded, Ukraine borders four EU states. Whether the crisis can be compared with Europe prior to World War I may be problematic, but the strongest case for the conflict's significance lies in its contrasting impact on Russian and European assumptions regarding national security, political and commercial relations, and public opinion formed since the 1990s. VERDICT A careful treatment of a serious and intractable international problem undermining the notion of "post-conflict Europe." [See "Editors' Spring Picks," LJ 2/15/15, p. 33.]--Zachary Irwin, Behrend Coll., Pennsylvania State Erie
Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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