Russia and Ukraine - Entangled Histories, Diverging States

Informationen zum Autor Maria Popova is Associate Professor of Political Science at McGill University.Oxana Shevel is Associate Professor of Political Science at Tufts University. Klappentext In February 2022, Russian missiles rained on Ukrainian cities and tanks rolled towards Kyiv to end Ukrainian independent statehood. President Zelensky declined a western evacuation offer and rallied the army and citizens to defend Ukraine. What are the roots of this war which has devastated Ukraine, upended the international legal order, and brought back the spectre of nuclear escalation? How is it that these supposedly "brotherly peoples" became each other's worst nightmare?In Russia and Ukraine: Entangled Histories, Divergent States, Maria Popova and Oxana Shevel explain how over the last thirty years Russia and Ukraine diverged politically ending up on a catastrophic collision course. Russia slid back into authoritarianism and imperialism, while Ukraine consolidated a competitive political system and pro-European identity. As Ukraine built a democratic nation-state, Russia refused to accept it and came to see it as an "anti-Russia" project. After political pressure and economic levers proved ineffective and even counterproductive, Putin went to war to force Ukraine back into the fold of the "Russian world." Ukraine resisted, determined to pursue European integration as a sovereign state. These irreconcilable goals, rather than geopolitical wrangling between Russia and the West over NATO expansion, are - the authors argue - essential to understanding Russia's war on Ukraine. Zusammenfassung In February 2022, Russian missiles rained on Ukrainian cities and tanks rolled towards Kyiv to end Ukrainian independent statehood. President Zelensky declined a western evacuation offer and rallied the army and citizens to defend Ukraine. What are the roots of this war which has devastated Ukraine, upended the international legal order, and brought back the spectre of nuclear escalation? How is it that these supposedly "brotherly peoples" became each other's worst nightmare?In Russia and Ukraine: Entangled Histories, Divergent States, Maria Popova and Oxana Shevel explain how over the last thirty years Russia and Ukraine diverged politically ending up on a catastrophic collision course. Russia slid back into authoritarianism and imperialism, while Ukraine consolidated a competitive political system and pro-European identity. As Ukraine built a democratic nation-state, Russia refused to accept it and came to see it as an "anti-Russia" project. After political pressure and economic levers proved ineffective and even counterproductive, Putin went to war to force Ukraine back into the fold of the "Russian world." Ukraine resisted, determined to pursue European integration as a sovereign state. These irreconcilable goals, rather than geopolitical wrangling between Russia and the West over NATO expansion, are - the authors argue - essential to understanding Russia's war on Ukraine. Inhaltsverzeichnis List of AbbreviationsList of IllustrationsAcknowledgementsIntroduction: Russia's invasion and Ukraine's resistance1. Entangled histories and identity debates2. Regime divergence3. Historical memory, language, and citizenship4. Ukraine, Russia, and the West5. Euromaidan, Crimea annexation, and the war in Donbas6. The road to full-scale invasionConclusionReferencesNotes...

List of contents

List of Abbreviations
 
List of Illustrations
 
Acknowledgements
 
Introduction: Russia's invasion and Ukraine's resistance
 
1. Entangled histories and identity debates
 
2. Regime divergence
 
3. Historical memory, language, and citizenship
 
4. Ukraine, Russia, and the West
 
5. Euromaidan, Crimea annexation, and the war in Donbas
 
6. The road to full-scale invasion
 
Conclusion
 
References
 
Notes

About the author

Maria Popova is Associate Professor of Political Science at McGill University.
Oxana Shevel is Associate Professor of Political Science at Tufts University.

Report

"If you only have time to read one book on the origins of contemporary conflict between Russia and Ukraine, this is the book to read! The perfect team of Popova and Shevel together bring unique depth of understanding of both countries to explain this tragic story of divergence between Ukraine and Russia. It will become a definitive account of this history by which all future studies will be judged."
Michael McFaul, Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution; Professor of Political Science, Director, and Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University; and former US Ambassador to the Russian Federation
 
"There is a flood of books on the Russo-Ukrainian war written by overnight experts. This book is different. For anyone who wants to understand the origins of the largest military conflict in Europe since World War II this book is a must-read."
Serhii Plokhy, author of The Russo-Ukrainian War: The Return of History
 
"Shevel and Popova are as unflinching as they are comprehensive and nuanced in their indictment of Russia's imperialist war against Ukraine. Essential reading for anybody who wants to understand the most important geopolitical event of our age."
Ian Garner, author of Z Generation: Into the Heart of Russia's Fascist Youth
 
"What explains Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Ukraine's valiant resistance? Popova and Shevel, both eminent scholars of the region, focus on the dynamics of Ukraine-Russia relations since the breakup of the USSR and show how Russia's slide towards autocracy and revival of imperial aspirations pushed Ukraine in the opposite, more democratic and pro-Western direction until deadly, genocidal warfare remained the Kremlin's only hope to subjugate its neighbor. Deeply researched, breathtaking in its scope and engagingly written, the book is an absolute must-read for anyone who wants to understand the origins of the war."
Eugene Finkel, Johns Hopkins University
 
"Russia and Ukraine started out in similar places after the Soviet collapse. But, as Maria Popova and Oxana Shevel explain, they have increasingly diverged over the past three decades. Today autocratic Russia has invaded democratizing Ukraine in what the authors vividly describe as the ultimate struggle for Ukraine's right to an independent future."
Angela Stent, author of Putin's World: Russia Against the West and with the Rest

Product details

• Authors: Maria Popova, Maria (Mcgill University) Shevel Popova, Maria Shevel Popova, Oxana Shevel
• Publisher: Wiley, John and Sons Ltd
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 24.11.2023
• EAN: 9781509557363
• ISBN: 978-1-5095-5736-3
• No. of pages: 288
• Subjects: Non-fiction book > Politics, society, business > Politics; Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Political science and political education; Geschichte, Politikwissenschaft, Russland, Ukraine, Politik, Europäische Geschichte, History, European History, European Politics, Political Science, War & Peace Studies, Kriegs- u. Friedensforschung, Politik / Europa, Russisch-ukrainischer Krieg