The war in the Ukraine is much more than just a physical conflict. This war is sort of a test to see how NATO and the U.S. will handle the “loser” of the cold war, Russia (and the rest of the old Soviet Union) when their ideologies do not fit each others. I read an interesting article on rbth.com that suggests that the post-cold war world is much less stable and reliable than the world during the cold war. This is because during the cold war, both sides (NATO and the Soviet Union) usually acted according to certain rules and standards that would not create conflict.
Now that the world is out of the cold war era, it is a whole new ball game with a new set of rules, or maybe even no rules. Since the start of the conflict, Russia has been under sanctions that are diminishing the power of their economy. In response, Russia has made it clear to the U.S. that any help given to the Ukraine will be seen as an act of war towards Russia. Russia has made a number of threats towards the united states, and has very recently threatened to release “smoking gun” satellite images that prove that the U.S. government was behind the 9/11 attacks. The point I am trying to get across is that the current conflict in the Ukraine could be a catalyst to much bigger conflicts, possibly even a second cold war.
While the U.S. and NATO are still standing together, Russia doesn’t have very many supporters of its actions in Crimea. Neighboring Kazakhstan and Belarus will not help their efforts. Even China has stated that they will not help Russia in succeeding, they only disapprove of a “U.S. victory”. While Russia doesn’t have much national support, they do seem to have the approval of small rebel groups around the globe. South American rebel groups do approve and have been “flirting” with Moscow. There are even “pro-soviet” groups in Islamic culture that are willing to help. While these small alliances won’t prove to be much help to Russia, they do make the statement that there are people willing to help Russia all around the world. What if there were secret pro-Russian organizations in the U.S., acting as some sort of “sleeper-cell”?
This conflict is much more than a territorial battle. We are in the middle of a test to see how the western world and the eastern world can cooperate after the apparent “end” of the cold war. The U.S. has done a good job of not getting involved in this conflict, but how long will it be before it is necessary that we intervene?
Will Russia stop its expansion if they acquire the Ukraine? Or will they continue
to push, much as Hitler and Nazi Germany did prior to WWII?
Reporting out,
-Mack
MEDIA AND THE WAR IN UKRAINE 