Running Head: POLITICAL GEOGRAPHIES
Political Geographies
Germanna Community College
GEO 210
April 17, 2014
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Summary
The conflict between Russia and Ukraine is escalating over time. The President of
Russia, Vladimir Putin, recently annexed the peninsula of Crimea illegally in March of 2014
with high degrees of controversy (C., Neil, & Andrew, 2014). Ukraine is now worried about
Russia’s intentions after Pro-Russian militants seized multiple government buildings and
established barriers in Eastern Ukraine (C., Neil, & Andrew, 2014). Russia’s President denies
involvement with the Pro-Russian militants in Eastern Ukraine (C., Neil, & Andrew, 2014). The
tension between Russia and Ukraine was escalated further when Russia warned Ukraine not to
intervene with the Pro-Russian militants (C., Neil, & Andrew, 2014). After Ukraine used military
power to overthrow Pro-Russian forces stationed at barriers, Russia’s President threatened
Ukraine with unspecified consequences for what he called a “serious crime” (C., Neil, &
Andrew, 2014). Russia has now placed upwards of forty-thousand soldiers at Ukraine’s border to
conduct military exercises (C., Neil, & Andrew, 2014).
Leaders in the western world including the President of the United States, “demanded
that Russia halt all support for the rebels, exert its influence to get them to leave occupied
government buildings in Slavyansk and other towns, and pull back its 40,000 troops deployed
along the border” (C., Neil, & Andrew, 2014). An agreement was made with Russia to make
Pro-Russians in Eastern Ukraine Surrender the Government buildings (C., Neil, & Andrew,
2014). The United States and the European Union warned Russia that it, “would face additional
economic sanctions if it failed to carry out that agreement” (C., Neil, & Andrew, 2014). Because
Russia illegally annexed Crimea, there have been concerns that Russia would roll over Ukraine’s
border in order to “protect ethnic Russians and Russian speakers” as it claimed to have done in
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Crimea (C., Neil, & Andrew, 2014). The acting President of Ukraine accused Russia of
coordinating the Pro-Russian militants, who were responsible for the attacks on government
buildings in Ukraine (C., Neil, & Andrew, 2014). The president expressed that Ukraine “will not
yield to the threat of terrorism and will continue to take measures to protect the life of our
citizens” (C., Neil, & Andrew, 2014).
Ukraine seemed indecisive about whether it should remove Pro-Russian militants from
Eastern Ukraine out of fear that Russia would be provoked to “protect its separatist proxies with
a military push across the border” (C., Neil, & Andrew, 2014). Ukraine has verified that “five
pro-Russian activists had been killed near Slovyansk. Mr. Ponomaryov, self-proclaimed proRussian mayor said that one Pro-Russian separatist had been killed and one wounded.” (C., Neil,
& Andrew, 2014). The Ukrainian government “involved as many as 150 troops and had been
stopped in part by a minefield that separatists had laid” (C., Neil, & Andrew, 2014). Through all
its efforts, “the Ukrainian operation had achieved little tactical effect” (C., Neil, & Andrew,
2014), since “separatists still firmly controlled this city, and Mr. Ponomaryov claimed to have
2,500 armed men at his disposal” (C., Neil, & Andrew, 2014). Ukraine’s government
interventions have had very little effect, and “rather than show the Ukrainian government’s
strength, it appeared to have fanned local tensions and invited the Kremlin reaction — further
exposing the government’s precarious position” (C., Neil, & Andrew, 2014).
Geographical Analysis
This article was relevant to Human Geography for a number of significant reasons. The
article provides a good demonstration of how two nations can experience geopolitical conflict
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with one another. The conflict between Ukraine and Russia related to many aspects and
concepts presented in the chapter on political geography.
The article helped me to understand that Ukraine is worried about Russia’s imperialist
actions. Russia recently annexed Crimea illegally, and has now shown support for Pro-Russian
Militants who seized government buildings and established barriers in Ukrainian territory, (C.,
Neil, & Andrew, 2014). Ukraine’s concern is heightened by Russia deploying over fortythousand troops at the boundary between Russia and Ukraine to conduct military exercises (C.,
Neil, & Andrew, 2014). When Russia illegally annexed Crimea, it clearly demonstrated
imperialism, and Ukraine is worried that it will demonstrated it again by crossing the boundary
and obtaining Ukrainian territory (C., Neil, & Andrew, 2014). In the textbook we learned that
imperialism is defined as “One states exercise of direct or indirect control over the affairs of
another political society” (Greiner L. Alyson, 2011). By reading this article, I was able to
understand what imperialism is, and how imperialism works.
Russia placed over forty-thousand troops at Ukraine’s border in an effort to warn Ukraine
not to intervene with Pro-Russian militants. In the text book, we learned about terrorism which
is defined as “The threat or use of violence against civilians in order to inculcate fear, gain
influence, and/or advocate a specific cause or conviction” (Greiner L. Alyson, 2011). According
to our text, the Pro-Russian Militants fall under the subcategory of terrorists called “separatists”
(Greiner L. Alyson, 2011). Separatists is the subcategory of terrorism defined as the “Use of
terrorism by individuals or groups to advance a specific cause” (Greiner L. Alyson, 2011).
Russia has clearly shown state support for terrorism by deploying the military at Ukraine’s
border as an effort to warn Ukraine against intervening with Pro-Russian militants (Greiner L.
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Alyson, 2011). This article helped me understand the definition of terrorism, as well as, the
definition of state-sponsored terrorism (Greiner L. Alyson, 2011).
In the article, The United States and the European Union warned Russia that “it would
face additional economic sanctions if it failed to carry out that agreement” (C., Neil, & Andrew,
2014). By applying economic sanctions, the United States and European Union would place
various trade barriers and financial restrictions on Russia, which would affect Russia’s economy
in a negative way. In the textbook, we learned about centrifugal forces that negatively affect the
social and political structure of a country or state (Greiner L. Alyson, 2011). Sanctions placed on
Russia are an example of a centrifugal force, since Russia’s economy would be negatively
effected (Greiner L. Alyson, 2011). We also learned that separatists can also be considered a
centrifugal force, since separatism is also defined as “the desire of a nation to break apart from
its state” (Greiner L. Alyson, 2011).The Pro-Russian separatists would also be considered a
centrifugal force for Ukraine under this definition (Greiner L. Alyson, 2011). The information I
learned in Human Geography helped me identify the centrifugal forces affecting the Russian
Ukraine conflict.
The article explained how Ukraine used military power to overthrow Pro-Russian forces
stationed at barriers (C., Neil, & Andrew, 2014). Even under the threat of Russia’s military at
Ukraine’s borders, the President of Ukraine stated that we “will not yield to the threat of
terrorism and will continue to take measures to protect the life of our citizens” (C., Neil, &
Andrew, 2014). We learned about the concept of territoriality in Human Geography, which is
defined as “Strong attachment to or defensive control over a place or an area” (Greiner L.
Alyson, 2011). Ukraine’s willingness to defend its people is a good demonstration of
territoriality as described in the textbook (Greiner L. Alyson, 2011).
Running Head: POLITICAL GEOGRAPHIES
Having an understanding of Human Geography enabled me to understand the article
about the conflict between Russia and Ukraine in depth. I was able to apply the concepts and
ideas learned in Human Geography to develop an understanding of what the article was
explaining. The significance of Political Geography was clearly demonstrated in my enhanced
understanding of this article.
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References
C., C. J., Neil, M., & Andrew, H. (2014, April 24). Russia to Start Drills, Warning Ukraine Over
Mobilization. New York Times, p. 1.
Greiner L. Alyson. (2011). Visualizing Human Geography. Hoboken , NJ: John Wiley & Sons,
Inc.