Karen_A._Mingst,_Ivan_M._Arregu_n-Toft]_Essentia

Contending Perspectives on Managing Insecurity 299

States countries. It also established relation­
ships with NATO and the European Union. To
Rus sia, both organ izations posed a threat. In
Rus sian eyes, NATO had become an unnec­
essary military alliance since the Cold War
had ended. Why did NATO not disband as
the Warsaw Pact had done? Perhaps, Rus­
sia reasoned, NATO intended to expand
as a military alliance right up to Rus sia’s
borders. And so it was with the EU. Is not the
purpose of the ever­ expanding EU to pose
an economic wedge between Rus sia and
its neighbors? Should neighboring states
like Ukraine draw closer to the West and
gain economic and military power and
popu lar sovereignty governments, Rus sia
itself would be threatened. Rus sian troops
in Eastern Ukraine, joining with ethnic Rus­
sians fighting the Ukrainian government,
send a clear message that becoming closer
to the West is not to be tolerated.
Why had the West not learned the limits
of what Rus sia tolerates along its borders?
In 2008, Rus sian armed forces invaded
South Ossetia and clashed with the armed
forces of Georgia, a new NATO partnership
member. Georgia’s military was crushed.
Rus sians had every reason to expect that
this action would suffice to put the West
on notice that it would not tolerate NATO
expansion. But NATO expansion contin­
ued undaunted: from 1999 to 2009, NATO
accepted 12 new member states and cur­
rently has 28 members in total.
After the breakup of the Soviet Union,
the Rus sian people suffered a wrenching
economic adjustment. People strug gled;
the state strug gled. Part of the attraction
of Vladimir Putin as leader is his belief that
Rus sian power and influence can be
restored. Aided by high petroleum prices
beginning at the turn of the century, Putin
has become popu lar by rebuilding the
economy and reasserting Rus sia onto the

world stage. Most Rus sians today feel that

Rus sia is not sufficiently respected in inter­

national affairs. Use of force may be a nec­

essary condition of being respected as a

great power. President Putin’s commitment

of armed forces to Ukraine and, in 2015,

to Syria serve dual purposes: they enhance

Rus sian security geopo liti cally, and they

reassert Rus sia’s prestige worldwide.

Russian- made battle tanks, fitted with reactive

armor but not marked with Rus sian identification,

on their way to Crimea. Rus sia annexed Crimea after a

referendum among the Crimean population. The vote

was condemned by the United Nations as invalid.

For CritiCal analy sis

1. Why did the West not react with military
   force when Crimea joined the Rus sian
   Federation?


2. How is the situation in Crimea diff er ent from
   that of Eastern Ukraine?


3. Both Ukraine and Rus sia were driven by
   domestic­ level factors to act internationally.
   Explain.