A Short Historical Background
In December 1922, the Soviet Union was formed with communism. The countries involved were Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuanian, Moldava, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.In December 1921, the former President of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, was overthrown, and the countries declared their independence, which resulted in the eventual dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1992.Even though these states gained central control over their territory, leaders such as Vladmir Putin, the current President of Russia, seek to form a powerful authoritative government. President Putin wants to recreate the Soviet Union.
Ukraine Today
On February 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. Russia and Ukraine have remained in conflict since 2014, following the Revolution of Dignity and whether or not Crimea and parts of the Donbas should be recognized as part of Ukraine or Russia. Over the years, Russia built a strong military force aroundUkraine until it was ready to launch. The uncanny part of it all is that President Putin was asked on numerous accounts if he was planning an attack on Ukraine, but he denied it every time. Of course, it is plausible he would want to catch Ukraine off-guard, but this caused major issues within the international system discussed in the following section.
Families in Ukraine are currently being pulled away from their homes and struggling to find any means . Their entire lives are taken away from them because of Russia’s decision to invade the country over, most likey, gaining more power over territories.
How does this Affect the International System?
The Russian invasion in Ukraine has had a major hit on the international system for a few reasons. One of the major rules of the international legal system is that a state needs to be recognized by others to be an independent country. It is clear in this situation that Russia does not think Ukraine should remain independent, and if Russia succeeds at flooding the country with its ideologies and practices, surrounding states will begin to consider Ukraine as a part of Russia.
Next, Russia is not allowing Ukraine to function as a sovereign state. For the last eight years, Russia built its military coup around Ukraine to control the state. They formed an army that leftUkraine with no chance of competing. This goes against the international legal system because all states should be equal. There should be no country seen as more powerful, nor should it be given any additional powers.
Finally, the last and biggest conflict within the international legal system is that Russia invaded Ukraine without its permission. One of the main regulations on international law is a country’s legal obligation to obtain authorization from another state in order to enter the country. However, Russia failed majorly at doing so. Not only did it invade Ukraine without consent, but it even denied any motives to do so.
Russia will be facing extreme consequences on an international level, which are very much warranted.
What does this Mean for Canada?
On February 28, 2022, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that the use of Russian oils would be banned. Russia is a top-three oil-producing country and is a leading global fertilizer manufacturer, but has been removed from the world’s trading economy as a consequence of invading Ukraine.
On top of that, Russia is the top wheat producer, andUkraine leads the planet in sunflower seed oil production. With both of these goods removed from Canada’s use, farmers predict the prices of many Canadian commodities will rise.
Recently, several Canadian goods have already gone up in price such as housing and other commodities. Now, with gas prices inflating just as much, Canadians will no longer have finances to afford day-to-day life.
What Can We do?
As regular civilians in Canada, it’s hard to really make an impact on this situation. Although we cannot stop the war, and we cannot decrease the prices of any of the industries, we can speak up. We have the right to advocate for what we need as a society in order to survive, not only for our sake, but for the sake of Ukraine. If enough people spoke out about the negative impacts that Russia is implementing on the World, they might come to a realization of what is truly at stake. This is not only between Ukraine and Russia, but between Russia and the entire globe.