Introduction
Immediately after the end of world war two (WWII), opposing opinions based on the form of governance arose between West and East Europe. The USA and its allies were against the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) ideology of controlled and planned economy likewise to UUSR that highly contradicted the free market system that encouraged individual competition. The different philosophies prompted an intense confrontation between the communist and the capitalist. The divergence in viewpoints resulted in fiery rivalry and territorial fights to enhance dominance amongst the superpowers. The Russian president Vladimir Putin gave a powerful speech concerning the annexation of Crimea, which indicates how the former USSR is doing all that is possible to solidify and restructure its empire. The opposition has closely and intensely escalated the chances of WWIII.
The World in the Post Cold War Era
In the late 1970 USSR was experiencing great geopolitical, leadership, military than the other rivals following the success of its communist ideology in other parts of the world and amongst the most learned individuals in Europe. They had impressive war weapons ranging from tanks aircraft to nuclear missiles. Despite the USSR’s arsenal capabilities, they encountered tough resistance when they invaded Afghanistan, where the Taliban received support from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The difficulty of the USSR to succeed in the war made the West question its ability. In the 1980s, the USSR economy dropped as a result of excessive centralization making the block have inadequacy of essential goods (Weber & Kalberg, 2013). Most of the USSR leaders during this time witnessed the horrors of WWII during the bombing of Japan in 1945. On the other hand, President Ronald Reagan, a bold anti-communist, formulated economic policies and increased military investment in the US. Reagan’s administration was completely against the USSR, and it approved an aggressive stance towards the Soviet global military growth.
Reagan’s government and its military objective escalated the cold war and constant threat between US and USSR. He strengthened the US army following his policies and management goals (Mintzberg, 1993). According to President Reagan, the Soviet Union was evil, and their deeds were inhuman. Reagan (1982) stated that “Freedom and democracy will leave Marxism and Leninism on the heap of history.” This statement made the USSR leaders curious about his words and intentions, prompting them to convene a meeting attended by only the topmost Russian intelligence officers. After the discussion, the KGB leader Yuri Andropov and USSR secretary Leonid Brezhnev concluded and announced that there was a possible secret nuclear invasion by the USA on the Soviet Union. The assumption made the USSR form an intelligent body called Ryan responsible for gathering information related to the nuclear missile attack.
Following the nuclear missile pressure, USSR deployed several Ryan agents in the US and its Allies to monitor, detect and report the progress of possible launches citing places and technicians responsible for the implementation. The main aim of Ryan was to discover details of the nuclear attack then block its launch. The threat of possible USSR invasion escalated the fear between the two superpowers and their allies.
The US continued its psychological operation game plan from 1981 to 1983 by conducting a series of naval operations around the waters of the United Kingdom, Greenland, and Iceland. The activities were to test the possibilities of how close the US and Allies ships could easily access USSR borders. During this period, American bombers flew close to the Soviet Union with the intent of testing their radar capability. The activities seemed aggressive to the USSR leaders who did not clearly understand the practices that were undertaken by the US military (Weick, 2015). The US government staged the operations to study the capabilities of the Soviet Union. The activities aimed at identifying the vulnerability of their radar system and the possibility of intruding into the USSR region in case of invasion. The tests were directed at estimating the potential of the US to deal with a nuclear attack from USSR. The psyche game was crucial for the US military, and it became a threat to the USSR leaders.
The lust for power became common between the West and East Europe as US and USSR behavior directly indicated the need for dominance in the region. In 1983, US president Reagan launched a missile defense strategy that was initiated to prevent any nuclear attack by the USSR. The move facilitated the Soviet Union’s upgrade of its arsenal, leading to a competitive race towards military superiority. Reagan’s initiative was entirely misunderstood by the USSR leader, which termed the US action to unleash nuclear war. Similarly, Yuri Andropov and the entire USSR leadership became more concerned by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) mission of deploying intermediate-range Pershing II missiles in Europe. NATO aimed to counter the USSR SS-20 intermediate-range missile present on the western borders. The deployment of the weaponries by NATO in Western Europe became a threat to the USSR, and the Soviet Union leaders viewed it as a sign of invasion.
The tension between the West and East has been constant and lately seen a rise following recent activities of aggressiveness between the US and Russian leaders. President Vladimir Putin gave a speech addressing the case of Crimea and terming it as a historical injustice. According to Putin, Crimea is part of the Soviet Union, and he accused the West of interfering with the interest of Russia. In his statement, Putin said, “Crimea has always been an integral part of Russia in the hearts and minds of people” (Rak & Bäcker, 2020). Crimea and Russia have shared common phenomena starting from the times of wars, and the people have stood together over the past years. He stated that the region has a conjoint history with Russia. He believed that including Crimea in the southern land of Ukraine was done without taking into consideration a number of factors such as population composition.
Putin believed the decision of including Crimea in Ukraine was against the constitutional norms and was performed without taking peoples’ opinions. Putin boldly condemned the West’s reaction to the annexation of Crimea following strong Sanctions on the Russian politicians. He threatened to confront the West if they interfered with the Russian interest of unifying Crimea. During the speech, Putin appraised both India and China for restraining form its actions.
The Russian president aims to restore Russia after experiencing humiliation following the collapse of the USSR. Putin termed the occurrence as the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the current regime. He blamed the West for cheating the East with some facts in order to expand NATO and deploy military facilities within the Russian borders. The annexation of Crimea and establishing new internal boundaries became unstoppable. His actions prompted reactions from Western Europe and Ukraine. According to Putin, Russia was already prepared to withstand any form of punishment to restore the lost parts of the country.
Vladimir Putin believes Russia will form its historical empire, and his nation will pay what price it takes to unify the lost regions. Western Europe has seen his action as aggressiveness and violation of international laws (Aydin & Sahin, 2019). Putin’s speech stated that the majority of the people in Crimea voted to reunite with Russia, but Ukraine and the US opposed the notion because it was illegal. He continued to cite several proofs that Crimea is part of the Russian territory.
The annexation event and the accusation of Putin as the aggressor have intense the possibility of WWIII. Both US and Russian relationship has declined as Washington accuses Moscow of violation of international laws. On the other hand, Russia is against the NATO influence in the East and the absorption of former USSR members into the association. Putin is still committed to reclaiming the Soviet territory and has made a strong warning to the West of possible military confrontation.
Conclusion
In summary, the post-cold war and military advancement play a vital role in reshaping the possibility of WWIII. The quest for a superpower and territorial dominance is also impacting world peace. The fall of the Soviet Union and the rise of NATO’s influence in East Europe are significant concerns to Putin’s government. He believes the US is involved in ensuring the USSR does not arise by recruiting its former allies into NATO. By capturing Crimea, Putin is assured of restoring the Russian empire irrespective of the consequences that come with it. The rising tension between Moscow and Washington is currently a threat and indicates the possibility of WWIII.
References
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