The Liberal Delusions That Provoked Putin

According to the prevailing wisdom in the West, the Ukraine crisis can be blamed almost entirely on Russian aggression. Russian President Vladimir Putin, the argument goes, annexed Crimea out of a long-standing desire to resuscitate the Soviet empire, and he may eventually go after the rest of Ukraine, as well as other countries in eastern Europe.

In this view, the ouster of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014 merely provided a pretext for Putin’s decision to order Russian forces to seize part of Ukraine. But this account is wrong: the United States and its European allies share most of the responsibility for the crisis.

🔁Continues Here! UnCommon Core: The Causes and Consequences of the Ukraine CrisisJohn J. Mearsheimer, the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor in Political Science.

🎞Why is Ukraine the West’s Fault?

A realist reflection on the crisis in Ukraine from the perspective of the Western powers, in particular, that of the United States. Its theoretical argumentation is built on the basis of thoughts of contemporary realist-minded scholars and geopoliticians, but, concomitantly, criticizes the contradictory nuances in their approaches.

How the Western Press Lied About the 2014 Coup in Ukraine

The paper analyses the consequences of the Ukraine crisis as an accomplishment from the Western point of view and diverges from other realist scholars who consider it as a mistake of the West. It argues that the United States has successfully completed its geopolitical mission concerning Ukraine by breaking it away from Moscow’s sphere of influence, therefore, now it can seek to de-escalate tensions with Russia over Ukraine and redirect its focus on other threats, such as the rise of China.