As the military standoff over Ukraine continues, both sides have attempted to mobilize international support for their respective positions. While Kiev has received increasingly robust NATO backing, Russia has turned to its “strategic partner” China. A recently published joint Sino-Russian statement has fueled speculation that Beijing could weigh in on Moscow’s side and perhaps even lead to the resurgence of competition between ideological blocs in world politics. However, diverging interests on Ukraine limit such cooperation in the short term. A long-term alignment between both sides is a more serious possibility, but can still be influenced by Western policy choices.
Schlagwort: Ukraine
Die Ukraine-Krise: von der Deeskalation zur Konfliktlösung?
Nach Wochen kontinuierlich steigender Spannungen zeichnet sich aktuell mit Russlands Ankündigung eines partiellen Truppenabzugs eine moderate Entspannung, vielleicht gar so etwas wie eine Trendumkehr ab. Dennoch stehen sich die Positionen beider Seiten, der NATO und der Ukraine auf der einen sowie Russlands auf der anderen, nach zahllosen Gesprächsrunden unverändert unvereinbar gegenüber. Um aus der Konfrontationslogik auszusteigen, bedarf es einer prozessualen Lösung, die sowohl den Konflikt im Osten der Ukraine als auch die Stellung Russlands im Gefüge der europäischen Sicherheit adressiert.
The Russian Military Build-Up Near the Ukrainian Border: Offensive Intentions or Diplomatic Signaling?
The recent build-up of Russian troops on the border to Ukraine is making waves in the political debate. Predominant views in the West share the assumption that Russia has offensive intentions and aims at revising the established status quo. This blog post argues that Moscow’s motives are not as straightforward as usually assumed in the West. In fact, Russia’s military behavior and its crisis diplomacy suggests that Moscow is more interested in sending a signal than in preparing for war.
What Does the Normandy Summit Mean for the Peace Process in Ukraine?
The beginning of conflict in Eastern Ukraine is nearing its sixth anniversary. The concerted effort of Russian, French, German and Ukrainian leaders to settle this issue diplomatically has yielded few tangible results so far. The recent meeting in Paris of four leaders gives ground for cautious optimism. What have the parties agreed upon? What problems remain and what has changed since the last round of Normandy negotiations?
Chernobyl’s Fallout, Beyond Radiation
“What’s it like, radiation? Maybe they show it in the movies? Have you seen it? Is it white, or what? Some people say it has no color and no smell, and other people say that it’s black. Like earth. But if it’s colorless, then it’s like God. God is everywhere, but you can’t see Him.” Like so many others affected by the meltdown at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the interviewee in Svetlana Alexievich’s Voices from Chernobyl, struggled to grasp how something too small to be perceived by our senses could have such an enormous effect on human affairs.
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