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Latest articles from Vladimir Socor
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Russia Builds Leverage Ahead of Ukraine’s Presidential Election
Moscow seems to be preparing the atmosphere for a possible military intervention in Ukraine’s eastern regions. Russia could, if it deemed expedient, intervene there with troops in some form or other, as it has just done in Crimea. But, more likely, Moscow would leverage the... MORE
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Russia, the West, and the Security Vacuum in Europe’s East (Part Two)
The crisis over Crimea has confirmed and further developed a paradigm of Russian re-expansion and Western self-denial in Europe’s East. This paradigm operates as follows (continued from Part One, EDM, April 4):5. Europe’s East consigned to Grey Zone. The United States, the European Union and... MORE
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Ukraine Seeks Closer Ties With NATO and Its Member Countries
On April 1–2 in Brussels, the Ukraine-NATO Commission held a ministerial-level meeting to discuss the conflict with pronounced military dimensions between Russia and Ukraine (UNIAN, April 2).Members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, however, would not use the term Russia-Ukraine conflict. Similarly, they have long... MORE
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Russia, the West, and the Security Vacuum in Europe’s East (Part One)
Russia’s seizure of Crimea from Ukraine, and Western hand-wringing in response, demonstrate the depth of the security vacuum in Europe’s East. Comprising Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, this area forms the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) and the European Union’s direct eastern neighborhood.... MORE
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US-Moldova Relations ‘Stronger Than Ever’ Politically
Visiting Moldova on March 29, US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland declared that US-Moldova relations “have never been stronger” (Moldpres, March 30). Nuland’s visit was the latest in the series of high-profile US-Moldova meetings following Russia’s seizure of Crimea from Ukraine.US President Barack Obama... MORE
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Putin’s Crimea Speech: A Manifesto of Greater-Russia Irredentism
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s speech on the incorporation of Crimea into Russia (kremlin.ru, March 18; see EDM, March 19) aimed far beyond Crimea in scope and ambition. Explicitly, Putin called into question the legitimacy of the Ukrainian state. Implicitly, he laid a basis for challenging... MORE
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Naval Basing and Maritime Borders in the Black Sea After Russia’s Annexation of Crimea
Russia’s seizure of Crimea from Ukraine, officially effective from March 18 (see EDM, March 19), brings two distinct territorial units into the Russian Federation, namely: the Crimean republic and the Sevastopol municipality, henceforth subordinated directly to Russia’s central government.Sevastopol’s special status derives from Russia’s Black... MORE
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Russia Retakes Crimea: Political Implications
Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine is now an accomplished goal in its own right. But it is also an intermediate goal, part of a broader agenda to threaten Ukraine with fragmentation or decomposition, unless Ukraine reorients toward Russia. In turn, Ukraine’s reorientation or its... MORE
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Russia Completes the Annexation of Crimea
Addressing Russia’s bicameral parliament on March 18, President Vladimir Putin announced Crimea’s incorporation into the Russian Federation. The founding documents on Crimea’s “admission” into Russia were signed on the same day, with immediate “legal” effect as far as Russia is concerned (kremlin.ru, March 18, 19).For... MORE
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Russia Can Play With Several Options After Crimea Plebiscite
The Crimean plebiscite on March 16 was pre-determined—indeed, pre-rigged—to endorse Crimea’s accession to Russia, following Russia’s military occupation of this autonomous republic in Ukraine (see EDM, March 4, 14).The two questions on the plebiscite ballot were: 1.) Are you in favor of Crimea’s reunification with... MORE