Canadian Defence Perspectives on Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine Martello Papers

As is the case with all Martello Papers, the views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Department of Nation- al Defence, the CIDP, or any of its supporting agencies. [...] However, one cannot ignore Mearsheimer’s dominance within the discourse.14 In 2014, during the Russian invasion of Crimea and the Donbas, structural realists were fast to lecture on the anarchic state of the system and the West’s culpability for the military ambitions of a would-be imperial power.15 Mearsheimer argues NATO and EU enlargement, Ukrainian democratization, and the threat of Western in. [...] These are grounded in the construction of the US identity as a declining hegemon in need of re-establishment to rise to combat the “po- tential threat” of China.35 Most controversially, they locate guilt for the current political crisis with the West and its leaders’ wanton disregard for Putin’s pow- er-maximizing, demanding neutral spheres of influence to re-assert the balance of powers or emerge. [...] Magazines like The Economist or Foreign Policy preach of a new Cold War as an ideological and political battleground for the future of the free world.41 Commentators at Foreign Affairs have declared the subject “no longer debat- able.”42 Both the Republican and Democratic parties in the US have made an- ti-China rhetoric, pioneered by the Trump administration, a keystone policy of the party.43 The. [...] One such factor is the historical ties between the two nations, which ultimately fueled Putin’s ideolog- ical ambition of restoring the historic power of the Soviet Union.2 Moreover, the enlargement of NATO and the rise of Western democracy have become major geopolitical issues for Russia.3 These factors can be grouped under the umbrella of Putin’s aims to attain economic, political, and influence.