Reality Check: Russia, Ukraine, and the West in Crisis and Conflict
Fri, Mar 6 2015 - 12:00pm
Matthew Rojansky, Director, Kennan Institute, Wilson Center
The death toll from the war in Ukraine's southeast is in the thousands, the government in Kiev is on the edge of bankruptcy, and mutual hostility between Russia and the West is more intense than it has been for more than a quarter century. This ongoing crisis threatens not only to upend the precarious security balance of the post-Soviet era, but also to fragment the foundation of the very political and economic system that hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians embraced by supporting the so-called Euromaidan last fall and winter. With poor prospects for a comprehensive diplomatic settlement, and political pressure for escalation from all sides, can anything be done to contain the conflict? Is crisis and confrontation the new normal for Europe and Eurasia? If so, will these problems come home to roost in the West?
