#Russia #Crimea #Ukraine Triangle of Conflict: Background Review Excerpt: Since the demise of the Soviet Union (USSR) in 1991 and the emergence of the newly independent states (NIS), Russia has employed various techniques to preserve its dominance over them. It is very important for Russia to keep Ukraine under its influence because of Ukraine’s exceptional strategic location. In the words of Zbigniew Brzezinski, Russia, with a subordinated Ukraine, becomes an empire, and without it, ceases to be one.1 Russia and Ukraine are of equal importance to each other.2 First, Ukraine and Russia are economically interdependent. The biggest disparity lays in Ukraine’s vast dependence on Russian energy sources. However, Ukraine transports the majority of Russian oil and natural gas to Europe, making Russia almost equally dependant on Ukraine in commercial terms. Both countries are major trading partners. Second, Ukraine serves as a buffer separating Russia from an expanded NATO. This is true both on an emotional level and a physical one. Having its former adversary (NATO) present in a neighboring republic is a threat to the psyche as much as it is to national security. On a personal level, both Russians and Ukrainians have relatives on the opposite side of the border. Russia has tried to exercise pressure upon Ukraine from the very beginning of its independence. The majority of disputes between the two states have been settled. The Crimea and the issues of the Russian Black Sea Fleet (RBSF) based there still remain an important outstanding issue in diplomatic relations between the states.3 1 Cited in Paul J. D’Anieri et al., Politics and Society in Ukraine (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1999), 1. 2 Ibid. 3 John (Ivan) Jaworsky, “Crimea’s Importance to Ukraine and Its Future Security,” in Crimea: Dynamics, Challenges, and Prospects, ed. Maria Drohobycky (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 1995), 135.  Besides the issues of the RBSF in Ukrainian territory, the so-called ‘triangle of conflict’4 — Russia-Crimea-Ukraine — brings certain difficulties to Ukraine’s state- building efforts. It is the Crimean Tatars who brought another dimension to the current instability in Crimea. This thesis will examine the influence of both the Crimean Tatar influx to Ukrainian Crimea from exile and the RBSF, primarily based in Ukraine, on the ‘triangle of conflict’ and each other. Thesis: THE CRIMEAN TATARS AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON THE ‘TRIANGLE OF CONFLICT’ —RUSSIA-CRIMEA-UKRAINE Igor Davydov
Posted on: Tue, 04 Mar 2014 00:32:03 +0000
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