Putin Planning “Soviet Union Lite”

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In The Media

Carnegie Europe

Putin Planning “Soviet Union Lite”

If Vladimir Putin’s Russia succeeds in Ukraine, it will conclude that it can act like an empire. An empire has no borders and does not respect the borders of others.

By Ulrich Speck

Published on Mar 4, 2014

Source: CNN

What's at stake in the conflict between the West and Russia over Ukraine is not just the future of Crimea, it's the future of international order.

Some weeks ago, Crimea was a remote place, to historians known as the center of a war in the 1850s, while ordinary people would have associated it with some kind of sparkling alcoholic beverage. But suddenly and unexpectedly, Crimea has become a geopolitical hotspot in a conflict between Russia and the West that seems to be straight out of a Cold War playbook.

Moscow has raised the stakes dramatically with a de facto annexation of this region, which is home of an important Russian naval base and inhabited by a population whose majority is oriented towards Russia (while an important minority, among them the Cossacks, is strongly attached to Ukraine).

Read the full text of this article on CNN.

About the Author

Ulrich Speck

Former Visiting Scholar, Carnegie Europe

Speck was a visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe in Brussels, where his research focuses on the European Union’s foreign policy and Europe’s strategic role in a changing global environment.

Foreign Policy Russia Europe North America Eastern Europe United States Ukraine Western Europe Iran

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

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