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Home > Open Access Journals > JSS > Vol. 18 > Lessons Learned from the War in Ukraine

 

Author Biography

Daniel Armes is a professional historian with an interest in the social, religious, and environmental causes of population migration. He is also a logistics officer with the Florida Army National Guard serving two deployments to Afghanistan and the U.S. Southern Border. The views expressed in this article do not represent the views of the United States, the Department of Defense, or the Florida Army National Guard.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5038/1944-0472.18.4.2576

Subject Area Keywords

Conflict studies, Ethnic conflict, Europe and EU, Geography, History, Identity, Ideology

Abstract

Ukraine desires to be a free state, drawing on over one thousand years of history to legitimize a national identity consisting of a distinct culture, language, and religion. While this is an achievable goal, the country faces challenges based on competing claims to Ukraine’s historical legacy. This article will analyze the roots of the current conflict over Ukraine’s national identity beginning with the religious divide between Eastern and Western Christianity in the Great Schism of 1054 and the Rus diaspora caused by the Mongol invasion of eastern Europe in 1240. A millennium of history and conflict are relevant today because both Europe and Russia cite past events when legitimizing claims to Ukraine’s ancestral heritage and land. Europe and Russia’s disregard for the will of the Ukrainian people when negotiating regional conflicts has created an environment transcending religious and geographic differences fostering a unified effort for independent statehood. In the current conflict, the will of the Ukrainian people to continue existence as a sovereign, independent state competes against the global power structure.

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this article do not represent the views of the United States, the Department of Defense, or the Florida Army National Guard.

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