Running head: RUSSIAN ACTIVITIES

New Russian Activities: Should the United States Be Worried

Luis Herrera
Dr. Quezada
RWS 1301

RUSSIAN ACTIVITIES

New Russian Activities: Should the United States Be Worried

The Soviet Union controlled much of what is now Eastern Europe including Ukraine.
After the fall of the Soviets, many areas such as Ukraine has become self-governing countries.
Russia has been disputing about who actually owns the territories. In early 2014, Russia annexed
a large part of Ukraine named Crimea. Since the annexation there has been violence between
Ukrainian nationalist forces and pro-Russian separatists. This conflict has caused about 8000
deaths and a destructed infrastructure according to a USA Today article written by Nataliya
Vasilyeva (2015, N.P). Many nations say that Russia is arming the separatists with weapons and
vehicles even though President Putin denies this. There has been images released to the media of
separatists with Russian tanks and surface-to-air weapons such as the one used to bring down a
Malaysian plane holding hundreds of people on board flying over eastern Ukraine. These events
started a familiar tensions between Russia and the United States. The United States and other
nations have put economic sanctions on Russia in effect of these activities. Since then, Russia
has been a very important topic to policy makers of the U.S and other nations.
During the Cold War, Soviets were allowed to keep bases in Syria which was led by
Havez Al-Assad at the time. Since then Russia has been trading and arming the Syrian
government that is now led by Bashar Al-Assad. More recently, the Russian military entered
Syria and started to attack ISIS targets with airstrikes. They have been very successful in
choosing their targets and taking them down. They have also been targeting forces such as rebel
groups that are opposed to Bashar Al-Assads leadership. There are multiple groups that are a
part of the Syrian conflict including coalitions, native groups, the Assad leadership, and terrorist
organizations. Some experts in intelligence and international relations say that Russia is just
trying to keep the abusive Assad Regime in power. Assad has been accused of killing innocent

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civilians of Syria by using sarin gas. This event seriously damaged the relationship between
Syria and the U.S. It is said that both Putin and Bashir Al-Assad support each other and do
whatever they can to keep the other in power.
If the United States or Russia continue to worsen their ties, it can eventually lead to
another Cold War and possibly another missile crisis. Should the United States be concerned
with what Russia has been doing over the past few years? To answer this there must be a basis of
whether the actions are early warning signs of another Cold War, if the sanctions put on Russia
necessary and effective, and the reasons why Russia are committed these actions.
Are Russias Actions a Sign of a New Cold War?
The reclamation of former soviet territory in Ukraine has led to a familiar feeling
between the U.S and Russia. This feeling is a remembrance of the Cold War when the soviets
were trying to acquire as much land as they could including parts of Europe, Asia, Africa, and
Latin America. Locals in Eastern Ukraine and the Ukrainian President believe that nations
should take the annexation and the violence more serious but the U.S wants to avoid any type of
altercation that could escalate the situation with Russia. Ukraine and Russia are still not reaching
an agreement nor are they trying to calm down the violence. Intelligence agencies have released
images of Russian troops mobilizing near the Russian-Ukrainian border. The agencies have also
stated that Russia has been arming the separatists groups in order combat the Ukrainian
nationalists.
As for Syria, some say that Putins and Al-Assads alliance is just a myth while others
such as Roy Allison believe that Russia is assuming a role of a diplomatic shield for
Syria.(2013, 798). Syria may be using Russia in order to have complete protection from losing

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power. With a nation such as Russia backing them, Syria would be able to remain in power.
Since Syria also supports President Putins ideology, Russia also feels a need to align with
Assad. Russias Middle-Eastern policies today are similar to those in the 60s through the 70s.
Putin wants to keep the leaders in power who support him and Russia such as China or the Assad
Regime. There is also evidence that Russia is sending weapons to the Syrian leader in order to
keep him in power. The Soviet Union did the same thing in the Middle-East in order to assist
local pro-Soviet leaders such as Havez Al-Assad in nations such as Afghanistan and Syria.
The current events are important because they are similar, but not fully comparable to the
Cold War experienced in the late 20th century when there were many different wars between
Soviet influenced nations and U.S forces such as the Korean and Vietnam Wars or the resistance
of the Peshmerga against Soviet troops in Afghanistan. Despite the recent activities in Ukraine
and in Syria, the relationship between the U.S and Russia is nowhere near as it was during the
Cold War with the Soviet Union.
Economic Sanctions on Russia
The most common response to Russias actions are the economic sanctions placed on
them by nations such as the U.S, Great Britain, Germany, and others. Economic Sanctions are
trade barriers or restrictions on sales between nations. Before the sanctions, Russia was already
going through an economic hardship and it was not improving. The sanctions placed on them
after the annexation of Crimea guaranteed that Russias economy would take a deep fall. Many
civilians especially the small farmers believe that the U.S is to blame for their economic failure
while their economy was already on a decline. The sanctions are affecting goods such as food,
gas, and oil prices. According to Michael Birnbaum from the Washington Post, Russia is still
able to fuel the violence in Eastern Ukraine despite the sanctions (March 2015, N.P). Much of

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the sanctions placed do not involve Russias governmental or military capacity. The sanctions
are most likely affecting the common citizen more than the Russian government. The Russian
civilians are still putting pressure on their government to try to fix the economic hardships.
The Russian Perspective
Putin believes his actions are completely justified and had every right to annex Crimea
and to enter in Syria. Since much of Eastern Europe was owned by the Soviets then taken away,
Moscow believes that they could reclaim the land as their own. President Putin believes that
Crimea was gifted to Ukraine after the fall of the Soviet Union. There was also much support
from the civilians in Crimea for the annexation but the land was owned by the Ukrainian
government. Civilians in Crimea believes that the Russian government was much more stable
than the Ukrainian government and could offer much more security. According to John
Biersack, Russia also wanted the territory because it could give them strategic control over the
surrounding Black Sea (2014, 253). After Russia annexed Crimea they also acquired a large part
of the Black Sea which includes many gas and oil fields. Ukraine sued the Russian government
for these energy resources. Russia has stayed consistent with their position regarding Ukraine
and the Crimean peninsula.
According to the Russian government, they entered Syria in order to help fight against
terrorist groups such as ISIS. So far they have been extremely effective when conducting
airstrikes on targets. Russian has also been victims of terrorist attacks. Like any other nation,
their government feels the need to protect their citizens and their land by doing whatever they
can to eliminate terrorist organizations. One of the biggest international problems is the complete
destabilization of the Middle-East. Once a country is destabilized, any organization, including
terrorists, can take power. This has happened in Afghanistan and Iraq with the Taliban. Russia

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does not want the Middle-East to further destabilize which is a common goal with the United
States but this means keeping Bashar Al-Assad in power. With Assad in power, this means there
is no room for destabilization in Syria. This conflicts with the U.Ss goal of getting Assad in
power.
Should the U.S Be Worried?
With the annexation of Crimea and the entrance into the Syrian conflict, Russia has been
a point of interest to policy makers in the U.S and around the world. These actions, including the
violence in eastern Ukraine, are very young and delicate situations. Russia has always been a
competitive powerhouse to the U.S. They are very capable of military and nuclear preparedness.
The United Sates should, at all costs, avoid a military confrontation. Escalation of tensions could
eventually lead to another world war or a nuclear war which is the last thing any nation wants.
Even Russia understands that a war would benefit no one. The sanctions placed on Russia should
continue to discourage them from committing more unwanted actions. The sanctions can cause
the Russian citizens to put enough pressure on their government to assist U.S interests. If the
sanctions continue, Russia could be facing complete economic failure. As previously stated,
relations is not as extreme as it was during the Cold War. There is violence but Russia is not
committing total acts of war such as in Korea or Vietnam. There is still room for diplomatic
resolutions for the situation in Crimea and eastern Ukraine. The White House and other world
leaders should be more active in talks with Putin regarding Ukraine and Syria.
The United States should not be overly worried but that does not mean we cannot remain
cautious and vigilant of Russias actions. The State Department and U.S intelligence agencies
should gather as much information as they can about Russias plans without being too intrusive.
The use of signal and image intelligence would be the most effective way to gather wanted

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information. The U.S should be able to evaluate Russia and their actions without escalating
tensions between the two nations. There should not be an overreaction to the situations and the
U.S should not immediately resort to military action. The United States can also fully use the
diplomatic power it holds in order to help ease tensions between Russia and the U.S.

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References
Allison, R. (2013, July). Russia and Syria: explaining an alignment with a regime in crisis.
International Affairs. 89 (issue 4), 795-823
Biersack, J. (2014).The geopolitics of Russia's annexation of Crimea: narratives, identity,
silences, and energy, Eurasian Geography and Economics, 247-269
Birnbaum, M. (2015, March 27). A year into the conflict with Russia, are sanctions working. The
Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/a-yearinto-a-conflict-with-russia-are-sanctions-working/2015/03/26/45ec04b2-c73c-11e4-bea5b893e7ac3fb3_story.html
Central Intelligence Agency. (Updated 2015). The world factbook: Ukraine. Retrieved from
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/up.html
Gaddis, J. (2006, December). The cold war: a new history. New York. Penguin Books.
Tiezzi, S. (2014, March). China backs Russia on Ukraine. The Diplomat. Retrieved from
http://thediplomat.com/2014/03/china-backs-russia-on-ukraine/
Trenin, D. (2015, February). The mythical alliance: Russia's Syria policy. Retrieved from
http://carnegieendowment.org/files/Brief-Trenin-RussiaSyrial1.pdf
Vasilyeva, N. (2015, November). Ukraine stops buying Russian gas, closes airspace. Retrieved
from http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2015/11/25/russia-halts-gasukraine/76358060/