So, as we all know World War 3 is about to break out and what better way to get prepared than for us at Her Campus to fill you in on the basics behind the dispute/feud/argument/tension/tussle. Because we all want to know what we’re actually fighting for!
Why, why, why?!
What this dispute essentially boils down to is an internal tension within Ukraine itself. Eastern Ukraine and the Crimean peninsula on the northern coast of the Black Sea have more of a cultural connection to Russia, where they speak Russian interchangeably with Ukrainian. In addition to this, the political ideals in these regions are more closely aligned to those of Russia. Western Ukraine residents, on the other hand, seem to more clearly identify with Eastern Europe.
What has actually happened so far?
Russia President Vladimir Putin had a decision ‘approved’ to take troops into the Crimean peninsula in Ukraine with the justification that they were there to protect ethnic Russians living in the region from Ukrainian nationalists that are anti-Russian and anti-Semitic.
The pro-Western Ukrainian Government obviously felt bemused and threatened by this, as residents within the peninsula denied that tension existed between them. Ukraine therefore has seen this invasion as a “declaration of war.” Thankfully, the invasion hasn’t provoked large scale chaos; however one person has died already, after violent tensions between protesters in Donetsk.
There was a worry that proceedings could turn ‘nuclear’, but many sources have confirmed that it would not be within Ukraine’s interests to go down this route.
What are we going to do?
It seems that as much as Britain and, in particular, America have denounced the actions of Putin, there isn’t a whole lot that we can do for a number of reasons. Memories of involvement in the Middle East are still resonating in the minds of the British and American Governments and although this is a situation which isn’t that similar on the face of it, getting heavily involved would be too rash a decision at the current stage of proceedings. Also, Ukraine doesn’t have full member status in NATO, meaning that the US and Europe are not obligated to come to its defence.
Recent updates have shown that Russia are trying to reiterate that this is not an act of war, yet the whole situation seems rather more complicated than that. But hopefully this short simple round up will help to give you some understanding as to why you may have to pack your bags and move to the Caribbean for a while.
Sources:
http://time.com/21934/ukraine-crimea-russia-nuclear-weapons/
http://www.marxist.com/russia-ukraine-and-the-west-will-there-be-war.htm
Edited by Luisa Parnell