Frontline Ukraine: Crisis in the Borderlands

by Richard Sakwa

Overview

The unfolding crisis in Ukraine has brought the world to the brink of a new Cold War. As Russia and Ukraine tussle for Crimea and the eastern regions, relations between Putin and the West have reached an all-time low. How did we get here? Richard Sakwa here unpicks the context of conflicted Ukrainian identity and of Russo-Ukrainian relations and traces the path to the recent disturbances through the events which have forced Ukraine, a country internally divided between East and West, to choose between closer union with Europe or its historic ties with Russia. In providing the first full account of the ongoing crisis, Sakwa analyses the origins and significance of the Euromaidan Protests, examines the controversial Russian military intervention and annexation of Crimea, reveals the extent of the catastrophe of the MH17 disaster and looks at possible ways forward following the October 2014 parliamentary elections. In doing so, he explains the origins, developments and global significance of the internal and external battle for Ukraine.With all eyes focused on the region, Sakwa unravels the myths and misunderstandings of the situation, providing an essential and highly readable account of the struggle for Europe's contested borderlands.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781350340817
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	07/14/2022
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	320,934
Product dimensions:	5.45(w) x 8.45(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Richard Sakwa is Professor of Russian and European Politics and Head of the School of Politics and International Relations at the University of Kent. He is author of Putin and the Oligarch: The Khodorkovsky-Yukos Affair (I.B.Tauris); The Crisis of Russian Democracy; Putin: Russia's Choice and Russian Politics and Society.

Table of Contents

Note on Transliteration and Translation vii

Preface ix

Maps xv

1 Countdown to Confrontation 1

2 Two Europes 26

3 Ukraine Contested 50

4 The February Revolution 81

5 The Crimean Gambit 100

6 When History Comes Calling 120

7 The Novorossiya Rebellion 148

8 Worlds in Collision 183

9 Frontline Politics 205

10 The Future of Ukraine 238

Afterword: The Challenge of Transformation 257

List of Abbreviations 295

Notes 297

Select Bibliography 327

Index 335

Editorial Reviews

"...a very good book…the most balanced study that I’ve seen..."

Noam Chomsky