欢迎来到留学生英语论文网

当前位置:首页 > 论文范文 > Military

What defines a nation?

发布时间:2018-02-14
该论文是我们的学员投稿,并非我们专家级的写作水平!如果你有论文作业写作指导需求请联系我们的客服人员

“A nation that cannot control its borders is not a nation,”[1] according to Ronald Reagan, borders are the main element that defines a nation, and the ability of a nation to defend or expend his border sooner or later will define a nation.

This paper reflects the survey of an area of interest in the immediate vicinity of the Eastern European border, a turbulent area because of regional conflicts that are characteristic for this part of the world. Beyond the geopolitical problems related to border issues, and their implications on the lives of peoples, the focus moves on a highly sensitive issue the borders disputes with Russia Federation throw different separatists conflicts, which ware born after collapsing Soviet Union. The presence of these frozen conflicts along the borders with Russia for almost 25 years weakens confidence in the durability of existing borders of former Soviet countries and fuels speculation about a potential territorial revisionism, thereby maintaining the latent tension in the region.

Frontier is a defining element for existence of a people. A nation can not be defined if the edges are not known. The border can also be a creative phenomenon, or a phenomenon of destruction in the same time. The border can be a tool of aggression, but also an instrument of response to aggression. Borders have always been core subjects when analyzing trends expansion of empires. States often use dominant force in the trend of expansion, but most times, the conquest of space is achieved not by trends aggression on borders, but through the force of ideas and creations, by a force that comes from within a nation, with help and influence from outside.

Border is not something fixed, there are in permanent dynamics. This dynamic induce various processes and phenomena. Advance border has often led to the conquest of new spaces by aggression and destruction of cultural and national identity. Advance of border may have positive values ​​(can lead to the creation of institutions, new ways of life, even creating a new civilization), but may also have negative meanings, can lead to the destruction of civilizations and nations.

An example is the Soviet border advance. The ideological Russo-Communist Empire followed the destruction of nations in Eastern Europe in relation to cultural, spiritual and identity. The empire wanted to sweep everything in its path, from national culture to religion, in a word; they wanted the destruction of the identity of many nations.

The destiny of the states in the immediate vicinity of the European Union can be seen only through such prisms. Countries on the eastern borders of the European Union are still under Russian influence, crushed by economic and political instability which oscillates between East and West.

After collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991, Russian Federation was hard to believe and accept that Russia has remained not only with 76% of the territory of the former USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) but without 60% of population, which declared their independence, and 50% of the gross domestic product of the Union, which reduced it to the world superpower status at the regional power. Realizing this, Russian Communist leadership tried to maintain its influence in the strategic points at least.

In this way, in many former Soviet countries ware spread different conflicts, which a big number of them are still frozen today like: Transnistrian region, Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia. The aim for this conflicts ware various, where different reasons were invoked by Russia.

For example Transnistrian frozen conflict is diverse from other frozen conflicts (Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia), because its base is not an ethnic or religious discrepancy, like Transnistrian separatist regime and Russia is trying to argue, but this is a typical political and geopolitical conflict.

These regions have become one of the main goals of Russian geopolitics survival in the area, and tend to retain control over former Soviet territories. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia withdrew from the West with over 1000 km, but it continue to have special interests in Southeast Europe like: influence and pressure on Ukraine; control of the Republic of Moldova in order to avoid union with Romania; protection of the Slavs and Orthodox from Balkans. In particular, Moscow does not want to admit NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) expansion in this area in any formula. To maintain influence, Russian Federation invent new concepts of international law, and gave new meanings of existing like: “strategic interests,” “old and traditional ties,” “right to defend their countrymen,” “zones of influence,” “the right of veto over foreign policy to other countries,” “maintain peace and stability,” “negotiated sovereignty” etc. Under these meanings is covered and made ​​neo-imperialist Russian movement so, generalizing these ideas, Eastern Europe was declared the special area of interest for Russia.[2]

Among high-risk threats to the security and stability of the global and regional on top, stood "frozen conflicts" that Russia used very effective in order to maintain, reshape or make other borders. For example the Russian-Georgian war, the Caucasian danger still exists, and needs just a spark to explode. North Ossetia claims and ambiguities peace plan accepted by Russia and Georgia, S-300 missile deployment in Abkhazia, strengthening of Russian military bases in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and Russian heavy weapons delivery, can start other conflicts in the regions. Also significant political instability in Dagestan, Ingushetia and Chechnya, on the border with Georgia, can cause various reactions throughout the Caucasus.

After the exchange authority and international prestige with the failed coup in August 1991, Russian Federation began a new renaissance by coming to power of President Putin. He started a new offensive strategy in regaining influence in Central Asia, the Caucasus and the Black Sea region, based on the support of the Russian intelligence services, and also helped by rising oil prices and export of weapons. Russia, with the expansion of partnerships of the EU and NATO in the former Soviet countries, has passed a campaign to defend what it considers its traditional area of influence.

The most important security threats associated with these regions are related to cross-border crime: smuggling, illegal migration, trafficking in arms and drugs. Conflict zones are in the process of reconstruction in their own societies in transition from totalitarianism to democracy from the planned economy to the market and their ramifications are breaking regional borders. The Black Sea region is also a bridge to the energy-rich Caspian Sea and a barrier to transnational threats. Such frozen conflict is becoming an important weapon of pressure to the Russians, which can create new country and drown new borders in Europe.

The Russian Federation still makes concrete steps towards achieving her unrealized dream of forming a second USSR. They are use intensively the myth of Russian speakers rights in the ex-Soviet countries, who would be disadvantaged, unprotected, discriminated, and require direct intervention of Russian military forces and Russian leaders in those areas. Thus, Russia supports ethnic minority groups in the newly independent states to create other “states” within them, and possibly ask for unification with Russia. Even though Russia is weakened considerably compared to West, it still has the capability to threaten the states of South Eastern Europe with the use of military force and can press them economical and political. So, which is happens in those conflict areas is not a coincidence, but a well developed plan that seeks an old goal, widely promoted by the Moscow leadership.

Aims of imperial Russia were multiple. With the dismantling processes of the Soviet empire and advancing of the West, for pro-imperial forces was important to put a barrier for expansion at a bigger distance from Russian Federation border. Thus, under the dissolution of the USSR and the loss of superpower status, preserving at least some strategic points of advanced strongholds towards confrontation with the West was an object of prime importance to imperial Russia.[3] So, Transnistria region, Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia was, in the view of Soviets geopolitical strategists, the strongholds for Russian influence.

For Russia Federation this extended border serves as a bridgehead for launching his south-western policy. Establish an economical political and military control, over this region allowed the maintenance of former Soviet territories in the Russian imperial influents.[4] Russian military presence in this area is also a powerful tool to exercise certain geopolitical pressure on Ukraine to.

The actual central position of the Russian Federation that is explained by Heartland notion, even though is not providing the possibility to have power over the world, is giving them the opportunity to project and exercise strategic control over former soviet territories. Influence is deliver throw cultural and linguistic lenses that still exist with spread of Slavic ethnicity also, using different economic and energy blockades to continue controlling former territories. These are the main weapons that Russia are using and are clear defined by his centrality of the Heartland with the interest and larger advantage than other external powers, over East and Southeastern Europe.[5]

At the root of all Southeastern Europe conflicts are geopolitical and geo-strategic interests of Russia. Even if proclaimed a democratic country, Russian Federation supports undeclared wars on the pretext of a frozen conflicts assigning them an ethnical connotations, is nothing than a continuation of politics and geo-strategy that have always been characteristic.

Transnistrian conflict as well as Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia certainly will remain for a long time a frozen conflicts. The current situation in the regions is entirely favorable for Russian Federation, and is a plausible excuse to have political influence in the area of the Georgia, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine directly, as well as military presence close to NATO border.

1


[1] “Ronald Reagan Quotes,” Good Reads, accessed January 25, 2014, https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/3543.Ronald_Reagan?page=2.

[2] Mircea Gribincea, “Russian policy,” Decisions Seminar Prospects on transnistrian conflict, which took place in Moscow, December 17, 1993, stipulated: Keep Russia's strategic position in South East Europe.

[3] “Moldova Socialistă,” no. 294, (1990), (817603), (17604).

[4] Ibid.

[5] Saul Bernard Cohen, Geopolitics: The Geography of International Relation Second Edition (New York: Rowman @ Littlefield, 2009), 148-250.

上一篇:Osama bin Laden: Al Qaeda’s Chief Executive Officer 下一篇:Hybrid threats: A new dimension in asymmetric conflict