The scene behind Russia’s nationalism: Political motives
It is argued that nationalism is not the major driving force of Putin’s decision to annex Crimea. Behind Nationalism, Putin has internal political consideration.
The dramatic rise of Russian nationalistic sentiment in recent years is cultivated by Putin. It is believed that he stirs up nationalism ideals to distract Russian from the poor economy and authoritarian rule. He used these ideas as justification for annexation of Crimea, which made his domestic popularity stop plunging, but increasing rapidly.[1] According to a poll, Putin has got an unprecedented 82% of domestic support after the military action.[2] Therefore, it is believed that nationalism is only a tool for Putin to restore his approval rating and hence legitimacy of his government, instead of a root cause of why he wanted Crimea.
Nationalism is also used as a tool to cover other motives of Putin in the Crimea annexation, with the major one being military strategic concern. This is further addressed in other sections of the website.
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1. Max Fisher, “Everything you need to know about Ukraine Crisis,” Vox, September 3, 2014. Accessed on November 11, 2014, http://www.vox.com/cards/ukraine-everything-you-need-to-know/what-is-the-ukraine-crisis
2. David Satter, “Opinion: Russia’s euphoria over Crimea won’t last,” CNN, April 1, 2014. Accessed on November 11, 2014, http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/31/opinion/russia-euphoria-crimea/index.html?hpt=bosread
The dramatic rise of Russian nationalistic sentiment in recent years is cultivated by Putin. It is believed that he stirs up nationalism ideals to distract Russian from the poor economy and authoritarian rule. He used these ideas as justification for annexation of Crimea, which made his domestic popularity stop plunging, but increasing rapidly.[1] According to a poll, Putin has got an unprecedented 82% of domestic support after the military action.[2] Therefore, it is believed that nationalism is only a tool for Putin to restore his approval rating and hence legitimacy of his government, instead of a root cause of why he wanted Crimea.
Nationalism is also used as a tool to cover other motives of Putin in the Crimea annexation, with the major one being military strategic concern. This is further addressed in other sections of the website.
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1. Max Fisher, “Everything you need to know about Ukraine Crisis,” Vox, September 3, 2014. Accessed on November 11, 2014, http://www.vox.com/cards/ukraine-everything-you-need-to-know/what-is-the-ukraine-crisis
2. David Satter, “Opinion: Russia’s euphoria over Crimea won’t last,” CNN, April 1, 2014. Accessed on November 11, 2014, http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/31/opinion/russia-euphoria-crimea/index.html?hpt=bosread