Ukraine and Russia: the perceptions and the reality (2)

Since the July 2014 edition of NATO Review on Ukraine and Russia, we've seen increased incursions by Russia, more sanctions by the West and heightened scepticism of President Putin's proclamations. So where has this split between the West and Russia left the process of galloping globalisation? And have the resulting splits spread to relations between allied Western countries? In this edition, NATO Review looks at the global side of a regional conflict in Ukraine.

A series of features:

+ Ukraine and the West: united we stand?
What were the main objectives of Russian leader President Putin when he embarked on his support for pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine? Did they go beyond territory and aim to create - or increase - divisions between Western countries? And if so, has this strategy worked? NATO Review asks some leading security figures how they saw it.

+ Ukraine-Russia conflict: has globalisation helped or hindered responses?
Countries have increased their links in a smaller, globalised world. But reactions to Russia's actions in Ukraine mean that a brake has to be put on some of this interlinking. Has globalisation made it easier or more difficult to react? Has it made it impossible to punish Russia without suffering pain at home? And where next for the sanctions and counter-sanctions?

+ Changing international borders in Ukraine: Crimea – Russia’s bold move
What's the difference between an annexation, a unification and an international border change? A lot, argues Dr Magnus Bjarnason. In this article, he illustrates how moves to change the map - such as in Russia's annexation of Crimea - have been carried out over recent decades. And he provides an analysis of the risks and rewards that these moves carry.

+ Cartoon photostory: could this be what is really going on?
Cartoonist Rytis Daukantas provides another humorous sideways view of the latest developments in Russia and Ukraine.

• Primary Source

NATO Review, July 2014: Ukraine and Russia: the perceptions and the reality (Part 1) http://www.europeansources.info/record/ukraine-and-russia-the-perceptions-and-the-reality/

ESO: Background information: Pre-Summit Press Conference by NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen at Residence Palace, Brussels , 1 September 2014 http://www.europeansources.info/record/pre-summit-press-conference-by-nato-secretary-general-anders-fogh-rasmussen-at-residence-palace-brussels-1-september-2014/

---