Ukraines Geographic Challenge // STRATFORvideo. 03.09.2014. https://youtube/watch?v=Eicrsq6K85I Stratfor analyzes Ukraines borderland location and decentralized population centers as factors contributing to its primary geographic challenge. Video Transcript: stratfor/video/ukraines-geographic-challenge#axzz3DUbAq2bd Media Center, Video September 3, 2014 Ukraine is the quintessential borderland state. The country borders three former Soviet states (Russia, Belarus and Moldova) and four countries in the European Union (Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania). Ukraine also has a coastline along the Black Sea to the south. Ukraine sits on the Northern European Plain, the area that has historically served as an invasion superhighway going east and west. Beyond its strategic location, Ukraines geography has only facilitated such invasions. The country consists of flat and fertile plains, with the exception of the Carpathian Mountain range that arches into the far west of the country. But even these mountains can be penetrated and have not posed a significant barrier to invasion. Given such lack of barriers, Ukraines wide-open geography is inextricably linked to that of Russia. Ukraines agricultural and industrial belts have traditionally been integrated with Russias, and Ukraine serves as the primary transit state for Russian energy exports to Europe. Due to its location and abundance of agricultural and mineral resources, Ukraine has been contested between regional powers for centuries. This competition is currently playing out in an extreme form today, with a Western-backed government confronting a Russian-backed uprising in eastern Ukraine. Further complicating the situation is the fact that Ukraine has several population and political cores, including Lviv in the west, Kiev in the center and the eastern cities of Donetsk and Luhansk. These different cores make administering Ukraine difficult. The current crisis in Ukraine is therefore merely the latest iteration of the countrys internal divisions and the long-standing East-West conflict over the country. Maintaining sovereignty and unity in the face of this competition is Ukraines primary geographic challenge. Conversation: Rebel Forces Strengthen in Ukraine // STRATFORvideo. 27.08.2014. https://youtube/watch?v=L_eXmgj1WKM Strators Chief Geopolitical Analyst Robert D. Kaplan and Military Analyst Sim Tack discuss the rising challenges facing Ukrainian forces and the increasing strength of pro-Russian separatist forces in eastern Ukraine.
Posted on: Tue, 16 Sep 2014 21:45:43 +0000
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