Rebel Militias in Eastern Ukraine

Rebel Militias in Eastern Ukraine PDF

Author: Martin Laryš

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2024-08-27

Total Pages: 165

ISBN-13: 104012464X

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This book extends principal-agent theory to the case of pro-Russian rebel militias in Eastern Ukraine. Russia’s war in Ukraine demonstrates the much-discussed relations between the principal (Russia) and agent (rebel militias) in Eastern Ukraine. Russia’s aggression against Ukraine in 2014 was a frontal challenge to the post-Cold War European regional order, and since 2022 it has offered a challenge to the global order. Filling the gap in the literature on indirect warfare and insurgencies, this book offers systematic insights into structures and relations within the leaderless rebellion in the Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts. It introduces the concept of the delegation of leaderless rebellion, based on the argument that it is a specific kind of rebellion when local elites do not actively participate as the leaders of the rebellion. Random people, without any fighting or political experience and with no social embeddedness, become rebel commanders, which means the principal – Russia – faces serious challenges but also benefits from opportunities to exercise complete control over the rebel forces and administration. This book will be of much interest to students of civil wars and insurgencies, political violence, Eastern European politics, and international relations in general.

Rebel Militias in Eastern Ukraine

Rebel Militias in Eastern Ukraine PDF

Author: Martin Laryš

Publisher: New York NY

Published: 2024

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781032710921

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"This book extends principal-agent theory to the case of pro-Russian rebel militias in Eastern Ukraine. Russia's war in Ukraine demonstrates the much-discussed relations between the principal (Russia) and agent (rebel militias) in Eastern Ukraine. Russia's aggression against Ukraine in 2014 was a frontal challenge to the post-Cold War European regional order, and since 2022 has offered a challenge to global order. Filling the gap in the literature on indirect warfare and insurgencies, this book offers systematic insights into the structures and relations within the leaderless rebellion in the Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts. It introduces the concept of the delegation of leaderless rebellion, based on the argument that it is a specific kind of rebellion when local elites do not actively participate as the leaders of the rebellion. Random people, without any fighting or political experience and with no social embeddedness, become rebel commanders, which means the principal - Russia - faces serious challenges but also benefits from opportunities to exercise complete control over the rebel forces and administration. This book will be of much interest to students of civil wars and insurgencies, political violence, Eastern European politics, and International Relations in general"--

Putin's Propaganda Machine

Putin's Propaganda Machine PDF

Author: Marcel H. Van Herpen

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2015-10-01

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 1442253622

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Putin's Propaganda Machine examines Russia’s “information war,” one of the most striking features of its intervention in Ukraine. Marcel H. Van Herpen argues that the Kremlin’s propaganda offensive is a carefully prepared strategy, implemented and tested over the last decade. Initially intended as a tool to enhance Russia’s soft power, it quickly developed into one of the main instruments of Russia’s new imperialism, reminiscent of the height of the Cold War. The author describes a multifaceted strategy that makes use of diverse instruments, including mimicking Western public diplomacy initiatives, hiring Western public-relations firms, setting up front organizations, buying Western media outlets, financing political parties, organizing a worldwide propaganda offensive through the Kremlin’s cable network RT, and publishing paid supplements in leading Western newspapers. In this information war, key roles are assigned to the Russian diaspora and the Russian Orthodox Church, the latter focused on spreading so-called traditional values and attacking universal human rights and Western democracy in international fora. Van Herpen demonstrates that the Kremlin’s propaganda machine not only plays a central role in its “hybrid war” in Ukraine, but also has broader international objectives, targeting in particular Europe’s two leading countries—France and Germany—with the goal of forming a geopolitical triangle, consisting of a Moscow-Berlin-Paris axis, intended to roll back the influence of NATO and the United States in Europe. Drawing on years of research, Van Herpen shows how the Kremlin has built an array of soft power instruments and transformed them into effective weapons in a new information war with the West.

Between Two Fires

Between Two Fires PDF

Author: Joshua Yaffa

Publisher:

Published: 2020

Total Pages: 372

ISBN-13: 1524760595

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From a leading journalist in Moscow and correspondent for The New Yorker, a groundbreaking portrait of modern Russia and the inner struggles of the people who sustain Vladimir Putin's rule "Unforgettable. . . . This is a book about Putin's Russia that is unlike any other." --Patrick Radden Keefe, author of Say Nothing In this rich and novelistic tour of contemporary Russia, Joshua Yaffa introduces readers to some of the country's most remarkable figures--from politicians and entrepreneurs to artists and historians--who have built their careers and constructed their identities in the shadow of the Putin system. Torn between their own ambitions and the omnipresent demands of the state, each walks an individual path of compromise. Some muster cunning and cynicism to extract all manner of benefits and privileges from those in power. Others, finding themselves to be less adept, are left broken and demoralized. What binds them together is the tangled web of dilemmas and contradictions they face. Between Two Fires chronicles the lives of a number of strivers who understand that their dreams are best--or only--realized through varying degrees of cooperation with the Russian government. With sensitivity and depth, Yaffa profiles the director of the country's main television channel, an Orthodox priest at war with the church hierarchy, a Chechen humanitarian who turns a blind eye to persecutions, and many others. The result is an intimate and probing portrait of a nation that is much discussed yet little understood. By showing how citizens shape their lives around the demands of a capricious and frequently repressive state--as often by choice as under threat of force--Yaffa offers urgent lessons about the true nature of modern authoritarianism.

Rebel Governance in Civil War

Rebel Governance in Civil War PDF

Author: Ana Arjona

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2015-10-22

Total Pages: 329

ISBN-13: 1316432386

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This is the first book to examine and compare how rebels govern civilians during civil wars in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Europe. Drawing from a variety of disciplinary traditions, including political science, sociology, and anthropology, the book provides in-depth case studies of specific conflicts as well as comparative studies of multiple conflicts. Among other themes, the book examines why and how some rebels establish both structures and practices of rule, the role of ideology, cultural, and material factors affecting rebel governance strategies, the impact of governance on the rebel/civilian relationship, civilian responses to rebel rule, the comparison between modes of state and non-state governance to rebel attempts to establish political order, the political economy of rebel governance, and the decline and demise of rebel governance attempts.

The Return of the Cold War

The Return of the Cold War PDF

Author: J. L. Black

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-04-14

Total Pages: 343

ISBN-13: 1317409531

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This book examines the crisis in Ukraine, tracing its development and analysing the factors which lie behind it. It discusses above all how the two sides have engaged in political posturing, accusations, escalating sanctions and further escalating threats, arguing that the ease with which both sides have reverted to a Cold War mentality demonstrates that the Cold War belief systems never really disappeared, and that the hopes raised in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union for a new era in East-West relations were misplaced. The book pays special attention to the often ignored origins of the crisis within Ukraine itself, and the permanent damage caused by the fact that Ukrainians are killing Ukrainians in the eastern parts of the country. It also assesses why Cold War belief systems have re-emerged so easily, and concludes by considering the likely long-term ramifications of the crisis, arguing that the deep-rooted lack of trust makes the possibility of compromise even harder than in the original Cold War.

The Dynamics of Emerging De-Facto States

The Dynamics of Emerging De-Facto States PDF

Author: Tetyana Malyarenko

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-01-02

Total Pages: 112

ISBN-13: 0429827598

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What are the causes and consequences of the crisis in Ukraine, and what has been the nature of local, national, and external actors’ involvement in it? These are the questions that the authors examine in this comprehensive analysis of the situation in Ukraine. The crisis evolved from peaceful protests to full-scale military conflict and to an unstable ceasefire frequently interrupted by, at times, intense clashes between government forces and separatist rebels. Tracing the emergence of two new de-facto state entities in the post-Soviet space—the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics—from the chaos of the early days after Russia’s annexation of Crimea in Spring 2014 to the second Minsk Agreement in February 2015, and focusing on the actions of the immediate conflict parties and their external backers, the authors investigate the feasibility and viability of several prominent ‘scenarios’ for a possible future settlement of the conflict. As an in-depth case study of the complex dynamics of the conflict at local, national, regional, and global levels of analysis, the book complements and advances existing scholarship on civil war and international crisis management and also provides insights for the policy community and the wider interested public.

Armies of Russia's War in Ukraine

Armies of Russia's War in Ukraine PDF

Author: Mark Galeotti

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2019-06-27

Total Pages: 65

ISBN-13: 1472833465

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Explaining and illustrating the immediate background to the current Russian invasion of Ukraine, this book investigates the Ukrainian and Russian regular and irregular forces which have been fighting in the Donbas region since 2014. In February 2014, street protests in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities led to the ousting of the Russian-backed President Yanukovych. Simultaneously, Russia carried out an almost-bloodless seizure of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula. Ukraine's 'Euromaidan Revolution' would see many changes to the country's constitution, and a turn towards the West for civic assistance and military training. Meanwhile, a violent reaction in the mainly Russian-speaking south-eastern industrial Donbas region led to a local armed counter-revolution, backed by Russia from April 2014. This conflict became an essential example of Russia's policy of so-called 'hybrid warfare', which pursues its strategic aims by a blend of propaganda and misinformation with the clandestine deployment of Special Forces and regular troops, alongside 'deniable' proxies and mercenaries. Meanwhile, Ukraine's efforts to reform its government culminated in the landslide election of President Zelensky in April 2019. Using his extensive contacts in both Russia and Ukraine, Prof Mark Galeotti presents a thorough and intriguing primer on all the forces involved in the conflict up to 2018. Supported by orders-of-battle, colour photos and specially commissioned artwork, his book also analyses the background and the stuttering progress of the war, and addresses the Russian military capabilities which are today being tested in all-out battle.

Routledge Handbook of Proxy Wars

Routledge Handbook of Proxy Wars PDF

Author: Assaf Moghadam

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2023-07-28

Total Pages: 572

ISBN-13: 1000914240

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This Handbook is the first volume to comprehensively examine the challenges, intricacies, and dynamics of proxy wars, in their various facets. The volume aims to capture the significantly growing interest in the topic at a critical juncture when wars of many guises are becoming multifaceted proxy wars. Most often, proxy wars have wide-ranging implications for international security and are, therefore, a critically important subject of inquiry. The Handbook seeks to understand and explain proxy wars conceptually, theoretically, and empirically, with a focus on the numerous policy challenges and dilemmas they pose. To do so, it presents a multi- and interdisciplinary assessment of proxy wars focused on the causes, dynamics, and processes underpinning the phenomenon, across time and space and a multitude of actors throughout human history. The Handbook is divided into six thematic sections, as follows: Part I: Approaches to the Study of Proxy Wars Part II: Historical Perspectives on Proxy Wars Part III: Actors in Proxy Wars Part IV: Dynamics of Proxy Wars Part V: Case Studies of Proxy Wars Part VI: The Future of Proxy Wars By bringing together many leading scholars in a synthesis of expertise, this Handbook provides a unique and rigorous account of research into proxy war, which so far has been largely missing from the debate. This book will be of much interest to students of strategic studies, security studies, foreign policy, political violence, and International Relations.