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

 

Author Biography

Dr. Yasin Çağlar Kaya is an Assistant Professor of International Law at Karadeniz Technical University, where he also leads the International Law Chair. His academic work engages with the law of the sea, the use of force, and international security, and he has written from the perspective of Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL). In addition to his university post, he contributes as a member of the Special Expert Working Group at DEHUKAM, Türkiye’s National Research Center for Maritime Law. Dr. Kaya studied International Law at the University of Sussex (LL.M.) and completed his Ph.D. in International Relations at Karadeniz Technical University.

Dr. Yunus Emre Aydın began his university education in 2007 at the Department of History at Bursa Uludağ University. He completed his history education in 2012 and pursued a master's degree at the same university. He defended his master's thesis titled "Commercial Activities of the Ottoman Empire in Eastern Black Sea Ports in the 19th Century" in 2016. Between March 20, 2017, and September 10, 2018, he received Russian language training at St. Petersburg State University and later at M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University's Faculty of Languages. After completing his language training, he began his doctoral studies at M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University's Faculty of History. On June 19, 2023, he defended his doctoral thesis titled "The Construction of the Railway in Crimea from the Second Half of the 19th Century to the Early 20th Century. He is currently continuing his career in the Department of International Relations at Karadeniz Technical University.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5038/1944-0472.18.4.2572

Subject Area Keywords

China, DPRK-North Korea, Iran, Russia, Strategy, War studies

Abstract

This article explores how Russia, Iran, China, and North Korea have adapted their strategies during the Ukraine war. Rather than forming treaty-based alliances, they have turned to flexible partnerships shaped by sanctions evasion, arms transfers, and coordinated diplomacy. The framework draws on concepts such as authoritarian solidarity, hedging, norm subsidiarity, and wartime strategic learning, and the analysis focuses on four domains of cooperation: defense industries, finance, information operations, and institutional platforms. Empirical cases highlight Iran’s drone supplies, North Korea’s transfer of artillery and munitions, and China’s provision of economic lifelines, with Russia serving as the central coordinator. These relationships display resilience, but they also carry clear constraints: China avoids deep military commitments, Russia and Iran remain tied to energy revenues, and North Korea struggles with its limited industrial base. Taken together, the findings suggest that authoritarian alignments operate less as fixed blocs than as adaptive ecosystems. They combine cooperation with divergence, shaping security dynamics in ways that demand new responses from liberal democracies.

Disclaimer

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest related to this research. The views expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of any affiliated institution.

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