The independent Ukraine after the end of the Cold War: a geopo- litical analysis (1991-2013)

• Autor(a) principal: Poty, Italo Barreto
• Data de Publicação: 2019
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Conjuntura Austral
• Texto Completo: https://seer.ufrgs.br/index.php/ConjunturaAustral/article/view/92323
• topic: Ucrânia; Estados Unidos; Geopolítica.; Ukraine; United States; Geopolitics; Russia.

This article aims to analyze the independent Ukraine’s historical trajectory between 1991 and 2010 from a geopolitical perspective. Firstly, we will approach the theoretical basis of American geopolitics, the end of the Soviet Union and the process of independence of Ukraine. The main object of this article is the quarrel over influence in Ukraine that has been occurring since the end of the Cold War: on one hand, the expansion of the United States’ influence over the post-Soviet space after the USSR collapse through NATO and the Colored Revolutions, such as the Orange Revolution in Ukraine; on the other hand, the resurgence of Russia as a regional power since the beginning of the 21st Century, once again able to project influence on its surroundings. It happened through Europe’s energetic dependence, in which Ukraine plays a central role, and the 2008 Russian-Georgian war. This external contest over influence in Ukraine escalated the intern division of the country, in which East and South regions are closer to Russia, while the West is more connected to Europe, culminating in the 2013 crisis.