The invasion of Ukraine is the culmination of a long period of increasing tension between Russia and the West, writes Richard Sakwa in The Loop.<\/p>\n
What provoked the war in Ukraine? A partial answer lies in the intensification of a long-standing security dilemma.<\/p>\n
Professor Richard Sakwa <\/a>argues that the Russian invasion of Ukraine is the culmination of a long period of increasing tensions between Russia and the West in the ECPR’s Political Science Blog ‘The Loop<\/a>‘ with ‘competition over status and identity’ also playing their part. That the West not only ignored the portents, but misunderstood them. Russian security concerns thus became part of a broader cultural alienation.<\/p>\n ‘Security concerns intersected with identity issues to stoke a revolt against liberal modernity. Russia condemns the West for expansion into what it considers its own security sphere, and denounces it as the antithesis of Russia\u2019s traditional culture and civilisation.’<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Read the full piece here.<\/a><\/h5>\n