Dans Mon Catalogue

Paperback

English language

Published Feb. 6, 2015 by The MIT Press.

ISBN:: 9780262536295

(1 review)

The current conflict in Ukraine has spawned the most serious crisis between Russia and the West since the end of the Cold War. It has undermined European security, raised questions about NATO's future, and put an end to one of the most ambitious projects of U.S. foreign policy—building a partnership with Russia. It also threatens to undermine U.S. diplomatic efforts on issues ranging from terrorism to nuclear proliferation. And in the absence of direct negotiations, each side is betting that political and economic pressure will force the other to blink first. Caught in this dangerous game of chicken, the West cannot afford to lose sight of the importance of stable relations with Russia.

This book puts the conflict in historical perspective by examining the evolution of the crisis and assessing its implications both for the Crimean Peninsula and for Russia’s relations with the West more generally. Experts in the international …

The current conflict in Ukraine has spawned the most serious crisis between Russia and the West since the end of the Cold War. It has undermined European security, raised questions about NATO's future, and put an end to one of the most ambitious projects of U.S. foreign policy—building a partnership with Russia. It also threatens to undermine U.S. diplomatic efforts on issues ranging from terrorism to nuclear proliferation. And in the absence of direct negotiations, each side is betting that political and economic pressure will force the other to blink first. Caught in this dangerous game of chicken, the West cannot afford to lose sight of the importance of stable relations with Russia.

This book puts the conflict in historical perspective by examining the evolution of the crisis and assessing its implications both for the Crimean Peninsula and for Russia’s relations with the West more generally. Experts in the international relations of post-Soviet states, political scientists Rajan Menon and Eugene Rumer clearly show what is at stake in Ukraine, explaining the key economic, political, and security challenges and prospects for overcoming them. They also discuss historical precedents, sketch likely outcomes, and propose policies for safeguarding U.S.-Russia relations in the future. In doing so, they provide a comprehensive and accessible study of a conflict whose consequences will be felt for many years to come.

1 edition

emmadilemma reviewed Conflict in Ukraine by Rajan Menon

Looking forward through looking back

4 stars

Written as an explainer for the Russian annexation of Crimea, "Ukraine in Conflict" also acts as a preface to the current larger invasion, recounting the many axes on which the conflict operates.

All of the talking points are there - NATO and its existential threat to Russia in the post-Cold War order, tables of European defense spending and natural gas consumption, and something we don't hear about anymore, often-rampant corruption and dysfunction in the Ukrainian government.

The book necessarily ends without having insight into the current times, but it does offer three futures: protracted regional conflict, full-country Russian invasion, and the scenario it simply calls "Ukraine Wins," seen as so dubious that it merits barely a sentence. The authors absolutely didn't anticipate a future wherein the Ukrainian government would become legitimate or respected. (Somewhere there's a book to be written on media figures guiding nations through world conflict.)

In this …

Written as an explainer for the Russian annexation of Crimea, "Ukraine in Conflict" also acts as a preface to the current larger invasion, recounting the many axes on which the conflict operates.

All of the talking points are there - NATO and its existential threat to Russia in the post-Cold War order, tables of European defense spending and natural gas consumption, and something we don't hear about anymore, often-rampant corruption and dysfunction in the Ukrainian government.

The book necessarily ends without having insight into the current times, but it does offer three futures: protracted regional conflict, full-country Russian invasion, and the scenario it simply calls "Ukraine Wins," seen as so dubious that it merits barely a sentence. The authors absolutely didn't anticipate a future wherein the Ukrainian government would become legitimate or respected. (Somewhere there's a book to be written on media figures guiding nations through world conflict.)

In this book's reading, Ukraine was doomed to be under-governed and fractured along the frontier that we now know, if not militarily, then culturally and politically.

I've heard bits of these things over the last dozen years, but not comprehensively or in one place. It makes sense out of where we are now, to the extent there's sense to be had.