What we see on the media...
Reality: Where is Crimea? What is this
sovereignty conflict or dispute about?
‘Crimea is Russian’ some argue (Burke-White 2014).
‘[T]he United States and its European allies share most of the responsibility
for the crisis’, others maintain (Mearsheimer 2014). Yet some go even further
and announce apocalyptically a new Cold War (Roskin 2014). Leaving aside these
and other opinions, the fact is that in early 2014 Crimea became the centre of
a crisis with Russia and Ukraine as leading actors in the conflict. President
Yanukovych was driven from power, Russia seized control of Crimea, and a
referendum followed. Ukraine and most of the Western world considered the
measures invalid (Barry 2014). In addition to the Crimean “local” crisis in
which we may recognise three agents, that is Crimea, Ukraine, and Russia, it is
also a reality that this dispute has larger repercussions geographically,
politically, and culturally speaking not only for the region but potentially
with regards to the globe (Molchanov 2004).
While it is true that there is a
crisis in the Crimean Peninsula, and tension is evident between Russia and
Ukraine, there is also a fair share of rhetorical argumentation adding
unnecessary considerations within legal and political sciences that do not seem
to offer any tangible way out. Given that the Crimean crisis is but one of many
other sovereignty conflicts currently existent around the world, why not
thinking of this particular dispute as an example towards peaceful multilateral
understanding through dialogue and negotiations?
Sources
Barry, M. (2014) ‘The Loss of Crimea, How Much Does
Ukraine Lose, and How Much Does Russia Gain, a Computable General Equilibrium
Model’, Journal of Global Peace and Conflict, 2.
Burke-White, W. (2014) ‘Crimea and the International
Legal Order’, Survival: Global Politics and Strategy, 56.
Mearsheimer, J. (2014) ‘Why the Ukraine Crisis is the
West’s Fault’, Foreign Affairs, 93.
Molchanov, M. (2004) ‘Ukraine and the European Union:
a Perennial Neighbour?’, Journal of European Integration, 26.
Roskin, M. (2014) ‘The New Cold War’, Parameters,
44.
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