Abstract
Ukraine: A Failed State?
Ukraine has a trouble at developing an upper identity that relies on societal/political legitimacy since her independence. Root cause of this is the negative political reflections of the ethno-cultural and historical differences within the context of the regional/geographical references. Ukraine, which becomes a part of a struggle between Russia and the West (EU/NATO) concerning the Eastern Europe, is confronted with a civil war and attempts of separatism due to the political reflections of this struggle over the ethno-cultural and regional discrepancies. Political/administrative crisis that Ukraine encounters could be explained by the failed state approach. After Viktor Yanukovych had cancelled the EU Association Agreement and agreed a new deal with Russia, societal/political connections have been broken in Ukraine. Developments like Russia’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and the Ukrainian government’s loss of political legitimacy at the eastern part of the country have been transforming Ukraine into a failed state or by using Schneckener’s term “a failing state”.<
Keywords
EU, Russia, Donbass, Crimea, Separatism