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Putin – Peter The Great Redux, Or A Modern-Day James Monroe?

Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Annual Meeting 2009 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, January 29, 2009.
World Economic Forum
/
Flickr Creative Commons

After hours of negotiations Thursday, top diplomats from the United States, Europe, and Russia agreed to halt any violence, intimidation or provocative actions in Ukraine.

University of Oklahoma historian Joshua Landis, a regular contributor to KGOU’sWorld Views, says a Ukrainian use of military force could provoke a Russian counterattack, but Putin still has his eye on Eastern provinces.

"The phase that Putin used that struck me is, he said, ‘This is new Russia,’” Landis says. “Kharkov, Lugansk, Donetsk, Odessa were not part of Ukraine in Tsarist times.”

Landis says the region has had a revolving door of claimants since Peter the Great took large portions of Ukraine and Poland during the early 18th Century. The region was later divided between Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Habsburg Empire and Russia before World War I.

“Ukraine got sucked up again in the Second World War, and spit out again,” Landis says. “We just saw Yugoslavia get chopped up into seven countries. Czechoslovakia split into two. This could mean a separation of Ukraine between Russians and Ukrainians.”

For Americans having trouble understanding Russia’s three century-fixation on Eastern Europe, compare it to the United States’ 200-year-old Monroe Doctrine.

“Whenever a foreign power has gotten too close to Latin America, we say, ‘Keep out! This is our zone,’” Landis says. “In a sense, Russia is saying that about Ukraine.

But Russia’s interest in Ukraine already has had severe economic consequences. Inflation is on the rise, their currency and stock market are declining, prices are up, wages are low, and billions of dollars of capital are leaving Russia.

Suzette Grillot, the Dean of the University of Oklahoma’s College of International Studies, says even though consumer confidence is declining along with the public’s faith in Russia’s economy, there’s still significant support for Putin’s land grab.

“He has the highest popularity ratings and approval ratings of all time, right now, so that historical connection seems to be very real,” Grillot says. “But there is a disconnect between historical connection and their actual economic, physical well-being today.”

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Brian Hardzinski is from Flower Mound, Texas and a graduate of the University of Oklahoma. He began his career at KGOU as a student intern, joining KGOU full time in 2009 as Operations and Public Service Announcement Director. He began regularly hosting Morning Edition in 2014, and became the station's first Digital News Editor in 2015-16. Brian’s work at KGOU has been honored by Public Radio News Directors Incorporated (PRNDI), the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters, the Oklahoma Associated Press Broadcasters, and local and regional chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists. Brian enjoys competing in triathlons, distance running, playing tennis, and entertaining his rambunctious Boston Terrier, Bucky.
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