It is not hyperbole to suggest that the foundations of post-cold war security in Europe have been badly damaged by the conflict in Ukraine since 2014. Russia’s annexation of Crimea and intervention in eastern Ukraine appear to have created a ‘simmering’ conflict, which may take years to resolve and have profound consequences for the European security environment. This volume explores the various political, economic and social aspects of these profound changes and their wider significance for Europe, bringing together contributions by scholars from across the continent and in various disciplinary fields to offer an authoritative, in-depth examination of the complex causes of the Ukraine crisis and the consequences for Ukrainian statehood, Ukraine’s relations with Russia, Russia’s own domestic governance and Russia’s relations with Europe. This book was originally published as a special issue of Europe-Asia Studies.

The invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation and the subsequent military campaigns entail several classical aspects of armed conflict. First, it is a type of international armed conflict between two sovereign states that had been prevalent until the middle of the twentieth century but not in the last several decades. It is also a direct intervention by a superpower into a neighboring state with the former’s aspiration of territorial expansion. This action evokes a scheme of war reminiscent of the nineteenth or early twentieth century. At the same time, however, the invasion is generating in the international community a sense of new phenomena, leading to a new era that may be different from the past three decades following the end of the Cold War. In fact, the hostilities between the Russian Federation and Ukraine, as well as reactions by other states and international organizations, have raised legal and political issues that require scholars to reexamine existing frameworks of the international community and individual rules of international law. The process of applying international law to states is a dynamic one. Rules of international law may and should regulate the behavior of states and provide standards to decide whether a particular act by a state is permissible. At the same time, however, states may change or replace existing rules, and a significant event or series of such events may be a strong motivator to create a new legal framework. In this regard, rules of international law and the conduct of states are in a dialectical relationship. International law can both shape a mode of conduct and be shaped by that conduct—being its creator as well as its creation. The Ukraine conflict is not an exception. We can discuss the conduct of the Russian Federation, Ukraine, other states and international organizations and evaluate their legality and legitimacy from the viewpoint of existing rules. However, we may also reevaluate the current rules of international law through the lens of the Ukraine conflict and discuss possible changes to those rules in the future. Inspired by the latter aspect of the international legal process, the present book aims to examine the impact of the Ukraine conflict, whether salient or potential, on various rules of international law. Most of the authors are from Japan and other Asian countries that are geographically remote from the site of the conflict. It is often true, however — and particularly in this case — that those keeping an appropriate distance can look at relevant issues in a broader view and from a more objective perspective. To what extent and in what manner may the Ukraine conflict have an impact on the legal framework of the international community and the rules of international law? This book is the first to answer those questions in a comprehensive manner.

Since World War I, America has been aspiring to extend its sphere of influence over the Eurasian landmass, in line with McKinder’s Heartland theory which has been shaping American foreign policy and global politics ever since. The two major powers standing in the way were and are Russia and China. The bipolar world order, based on America and the Soviet Union, that emerged after World War II kept America’s aspirations in check for about half a century, until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. During this period, America extended NATO over most of Western Europe. With the Soviet Union succeeded by an initially weak Russia, America remained the only superpower, and used NATO to further extend its influence. By 2020, NATO expanded to most of Eastern Europe and the Balkans, presenting a growing threat to Russia. The next big target was Ukraine. In 2014, America orchestrated the toppling of Russia-leaning President Yanukovych and installed a neo-Nazi government. This resulted in widespread demonstrations against it, massacres took place in Russian-speaking cities, Crimea seceded, and Donetsk and Luhansk declared themselves autonomous republics. The government declared the demonstrators terrorists and bombed its eastern regions for 8 years. When president Zelensky decided to subdue the Donbass by military force, the two Donbass republics requested Russia’s help, and on 24 February, 2022 Russian troops entered the Donbass. This was the beginning of the SMO, Russia's Special Military Operation, to protect Ukraine's Russian-speaking population against the civil war waged against them by their own government since 2014. Media reporting on the conflict was and is highly biased and selective, presenting an image often at odds with facts and crucial details needed to understand what is happening and why. This book tries to complete the picture.

Recent events in Ukraine and Russia and the subsequent incorporation of Crimea into the Russian state, with the support of some circles of inhabitants of the peninsula, have shown that the desire of people to belong to the Western part of Europe should not automatically be assumed. Discussing different perceptions of the Ukrainian-Russian war in neighbouring countries, this book offers an analysis of the conflicts and issues connected with the shifting of the border regions of Russia and Ukraine to show how ’material’ and ’psychological’ borders are never completely stable ideas. The contributors – historians, sociologists, anthropologists and political scientists from across Europe – use an interdisciplinary and comparative approach to explore the different national and transnational perceptions of a possible future role for Russia.

The agricultural sector has undergone significant changes in response to both the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine turmoil. These changes have significantly affected markets and distribution chains due to lockdowns and rising energy prices within the global food production economy. Some of these issues stemmed from a lack of available labor due to pandemic shutdowns, a lowered demand for certain commodities, and the Ukraine regional crisis has led to a 25% decrease in agricultural production and output. A thorough evaluation of the real impacts of these events is necessary to identify the main factors and provide concepts for future adjustments that may create a more resilient agriculture industry. Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine Crisis on the Agricultural Sector offers a novel and valuable contribution to the scientific community by examining the true effects of compounded crises on the global agricultural sector. The author, Vítor João Pereira Domingues Martinho, draws on over 20 years of experience in agriculture and economics, with expertise in areas such as agricultural policy, European Union food markets, and more. This book is an ideal resource for students, professors, researchers, farmers, and policymakers from national and international organizations. Its methodologies and insights provide crucial information for stakeholders seeking to understand the implications of these crises on the agricultural sector.

This book explores contemporary propaganda and mainstream Western news media, with reference to the Ukraine crisis. It examines Western media narratives of the immediate causes of the crisis, the respective roles of those who participated in or otherwise supported the demonstrations of 2013–2014 – including US-backed NGOs and rightist militia – and the legitimacy, or otherwise, of the destabilization of the democratically elected Yanukovych government. It considers how the crisis was contextualized with reference to broader themes of competition for power over Eurasia and the Washington Consensus. It assesses accounts of the role of Russia and of ethnic Russian Ukrainians in Crimea, Odessa and the Donbass and traces how Western mainstream media went out of their way to demonize Vladimir Putin. The book deconstructs prevailing Western narratives as to the reasons for the shooting down of Malaysian Airways flight MH17 in July 2014, and counters Western media concentration on the issue of culpability for the attack with an alternative narrative of egregious failure to close down civilian air space over war zones. From analysis of these discourses, the book identifies principles of post-2001 Western conflict propaganda as these appeared to play out in Ukraine. This book will be of much interest to students of propaganda, media and communication studies, Russian and Eastern European politics, security studies and IR.

In the Russia-Ukraine war, attention has been focused on the "Special Military Operation" This book argues that there are many other special operations, in various other arenas in the world, that deserve equal and urgent attention. Connecting special military operations to what it calls special economic operations, special cultural operations, special technological operations, special sexual operations and special political operations, the book argues that special operations are not exclusive. AIso drawing on topical debates about technoscience, the book critically examines invasive technologies in relation to bodily autonomy, integrity and privacy, and it urges scholars and thinkers to compare these invasive technological operations to invasive special military operations. The book grapples with the future of humanity in a world where the human is decentred even as the world is witnessing the proliferation of resource wars. The book is relevant for scholars in anthropology, sociology, politics, government studies, international relations, history, media studies, science and technology studies and disaster management.

This book examines the causes and consequences of the Ukraine crisis, with a special focus on Russia’s relations with the West. Towards that end, it brings together international relations scholars and area specialists. Issues covered include: the evolution of EU–Russia and US–Russia relations, the role of strategic culture and ontological insecurities in the formation of Russian foreign policy, the role of hybrid warfare in Russian military policy, the geopolitical drivers of Russia’s Ukraine policy, and a discussion of the decision-making dynamics that led to Russia’s intervention in eastern Ukraine. The contributors employ different theoretical approaches and offer partly complementary and partly competing analyses. In so doing, this book seeks to stimulate dialogue between different positions and advance our understanding of a topic that will shape the European security order for many years to come. This book was originally published as a special issue of Contemporary Politics.