The Conflict in Ukraine and Contemporary Imperialism. Issue 4 (1st October 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Desai, Radhika; Freeman, Alan; Kagarlitsky, Boris
• Is Part Of: International critical thought. Volume 6:Issue 4(2016)
• Page Start: 489
• Page End: 512
• Publication Date: 2016-10-01
• Subjects: Ukraine -- Russia -- NATO -- EU -- geopolitical economy -- post-Cold War -- multipolarity -- US -- Germany; Critical thinking -- Periodicals; Current events -- Periodicals; 153.4205
• DOI: 10.1080/21598282.2016.1242338
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2159-8282

Abstract

ABSTRACT: In this introduction, we provide an overall framing of the articles that follow by placing the Ukraine conflict which today embroils the West in confrontation with Russia, within an historical account of the geopolitical economy of contemporary capitalism and the dynamics of imperialism in the twenty-first century, taking particular account of the decline of US and Western power and the rise of other centres of economic and military power, which are able to resist and contest Western power. We pay particular attention to how today's geopolitical flashpoints, of which Ukraine is among the most critical, emerged to belie post-Cold War expectations of a "peace dividend" and a "unipolar" world, clearly distinguishing the US and the EU roles in these processes. Given the widespread tendency in the West to label Russia "imperialist, " particularly after the integration of Crimea into the Russian Federation, we end our discussion with a consideration of this question which concludes that the term, while it continues to be an appropriate description of the pattern of Western actions, is not so for that of Russian ones.