In the shadow of the Russian revolution: Putin, Xi and the long war in Ukraine

Cox, Michael (2022) In the shadow of the Russian revolution: Putin, Xi and the long war in Ukraine. Critique (United Kingdom), 50 (2-3). 287 - 305. ISSN 0301-7605

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Abstract

On 24th February Putin launched what he hoped would be a brief intervention in Ukraine that would in effect lead to Ukraine becoming part of Russia. His short war however has turned into a long, costly military operation, that has left Ukraine devastated, pushed the world economy nearer to a generalized downturn, led unexpectedly to a major boost for NATO, and against Putin's own expectations, caused a crisis in Russia itself. In this article the author discusses the complex set of reasons why Putin decided to invade Ukraine and the many miscalculations he has made, before going on to criticize those western critics who insist that Putin's actions should be regarded primarily as an understandable, albeit unjustified, reaction to western policies. The article does not deny a role in all this for the West, but suggests that Putin should be allowed a high degree of agency in making the decision to go to war. Thus exploring his ideas and the Russian regime which he has created is crucial. The article then goes onto deal with the complex role played by Xi JinPing and China in a war to which it claims it is ‘not' even ‘a party', but in which it has played an important role supporting Russia while all the time claiming it upholds Ukrainian sovereignty. The article ends with an explanation of why China has stood by Putin, and why in spite of the very real costs incurred in doing so, it will more than likely continue to back Russia.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/rcso20
Additional Information:	© 2022 The Author(s)
Divisions:	International Relations
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) J Political Science > JZ International relations J Political Science U Military Science
Date Deposited:	14 Oct 2022 13:30
Last Modified:	08 Apr 2024 07:06
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/117103

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