The Geopolitics of Ukraine and its Role in the Competition of Russia and the United States of America
Subject Areas :
Asghar Safari
1
(Postgraduate in international relations, Esfahan University.)
Saeed Vosoghi
2
(Assistant professor, political science department, Esfahan University)
Keywords: Russia, The United States of America, Crisis, Geopolitics, Eurasia, Heartland, Ukraine,
Abstract :
Abstract On 21st November 2013 the Ukrainian president Victor Yanukovych in a meeting in Lithuania cancelled the agreement on trade and cooperation with European Union and refused to sign it. This led to widespread protest in Ukraine and five people were killed in the ensuing unrest. After this incident Ukraine entered one of its most serious political turmoil after Orange revolution in 2004. As in similar crisis like Syrian crisis in 2011, Russia and the United States took side in favor of the government and protesters and this led to the confrontation of the two. The question raised here is what is the importance of Ukraine for Russia and the United States? The present article argues that the main root cause of confrontation of Russia and the United States in Ukraine is geopolitical importance of Ukraine and geopolitical competition of Russia and the United States in post-Cold War era. Ukraine is one of the most important strategic regions of Eurasia and Eastern Europe. The purpose of the present research is to examine the most important determinants affecting the attitude of Russia and West in Ukraine crisis. For analyzing the above issue, geopolitics theory has been used and the research methodology is descriptive-analytical.
