The Ukraine crisis, Russia and the West: clashing strategic visions

Abstract

This thesis looks at the 2014 Ukraine crisis through the lenses of strategic culture by analyzing both the Russian Federation and the European Union's strategic cultures. Over the last eight years, the annexation of Crimea and intervention in Donbass have received a great deal of attention as it was the first geopolitical power struggle in Europe between East and West since the Cold War. Since most of the scholarly work dealing with the 2014 Ukraine crisis have taken a realist approach, this thesis is taking a constructivist approach in order to cover this gap. The paper will cover the Russian strategic culture - the institutional influence of the intelligence services and agencies, foreign political rhetoric, security-related texts, the influence of the leading institutions and the role of 'active measures' - as well as the one of the EU - the influence of the German strategic culture, multilateralism and military restraint. Overall, the thesis will try to shed new light on the 2014 Ukraine crisis so that we can garner more insight on this event. Key words: Ukraine crisis; strategic culture; the Russian Federation; the European Union; Germany; Crimea