Ideological Motivations Factor Into The War In Donbass Ukraine

How do Ideological Motivations Factor into the War in Donbass Ukraine?
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Introduction
The fighting in eastern Ukraine’s Donbass region is in its fifth year since it started as protests against the Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych’s decision to dismiss an agreement for greater economic consolidation with the European Union. After a brutal and aggressive crackdown by the forces unintentionally drew a greater number of protesters and heightened the conflict. Since the conflict started, more than 10,000 people have died, and millions have been displaced from their homes. Today, the war in Donbass is among the worst humanitarian crises in the world. This paper examines the ideological factors that contributed to the war in Donbass in Ukraine.
The Donbass conflict can be examined in different dimensions which include economic, political practices and ideological dimensions. The dispute can be analyzed on different ideological aspects. Both the European Union and Russia approached Ukraine with their perspective ideologies. For Russia, it provides Ukraine with an ideology which is founded and established on their shares soviet and pre-soviet history and the culture that exists between the two countries. On the other side, the European Union provided Ukraine with a post-modern understanding of Europe based on the liberties, human rights, and freedoms which normally establish the European Union as a teleological point of the development of any human society (Pabriks & Kudors, 2015).
Ukraine’s rejection of its Past Soviet history and the promotion of Ukraine’s modern nation-building programs and return to Europe agitated the Russian government and the Ukrainians who are loyal to the history that existed between Russia and Ukraine. Therefore, as a way of showing their dissatisfaction, the Ukrainians started by protesting against their government, these protests then escalated into the deadly war.
Additionally, President Putin’s neo-imperial ideology also contributed significantly to the conflicts in Ukraine. President Putin’s determination of making Russian great again and this strong convictions and opinions that all Russian speakers are Russians who deserve the Russian state’s protection (Bukkvoll, 2016). Additionally, president Putin also has strong beliefs that Ukraine is an artificial state which has does not have the right to exist. This appears to have contributed to his pursuit of authoritarianism and adoption of the hegemonic policy towards Russia’s near abroad. Additionally, the Russian World ideology which has developed over the past decade since its introduction in 2007 is mostly used by Russia for its imperialistic and expansionistic motives, particularly regarding the aggressiveness and hostility against Ukraine and its government (European Council on Foreign Relations, 2015). This ideolo...