Hey everybody, It’s great to have you back for another week of Modern Conflicts Class!
This week we are looking into one of the most influential, and most certainly the most politicized, war of our lifetime: Ukraine.
You have probably heard at least a little about this war, but if you haven’t I’ll give a quick rundown. Please note that there are very few news outlets that cover this story without some sort of a political bias. Luckily I follow one of the exceptions, and I’ll do my best to simplify the controversial details.
KNOW
Assignment: read the following
The history of this conflict goes back to 2014, when Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine. The reason for this is that the Ukrainian president at the time, Viktor Yanukovych, took a more pro-Russian stance and chose to move further into the sphere of Russia, instead of toward the European Union (EU), in 2013, causing protests later that year. In early 2014 he was ousted from power by the Ukrainian Parliament, and a more western aligned government was installed.
Shortly after this, Russian soldiers not wearing the insignia of any country started popping up in Crimea, the peninsula at the southern tip of Ukraine, briefly occupying local government buildings. A referendum was then held where 97% percent of the vote was in favor of integration with Russia, leading Russia to lay claim to the peninsula. Hostilities broke out later that year in the Donbas region of Eastern Ukraine, Pro-Russian rebels took control of major areas which sparked a Ukrainian response (Notice these contested areas have the highest ethnic Russian populations in the country as you can see in the map above, with the Donbas being over 30% Russian). Russian troops were deployed briefly to the front lines, but this didn’t prevent a stalemate from forming and sporadic fighting taking place in between ceasefires from 2015-2022.
On February 24, 2022, after escalated talks by the USA about Ukraine joining NATO, Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion. Soldiers stormed into Ukraine with a three-pronged attack from the South, East, and North. In the opening weeks of the war the Russians advanced to the outskirts of Kyiv, the Ukrainian capitol. However, issues arose as the rapid advance stretched the Russian supply chains too thin, leaving them vulnerable to raids and hit-and-run attacks. The Ukrainians took full advantage, forcing the Russians to retreat back into Belarus and Russia proper. In the southeast, two forces, one from Crimea and one through the Donbas region, saw more success than their comrades in the north. The two were able to link up with each other, creating a land bridge between Crimea and the Russian mainland.
Since the opening months of the war in 2022, the conflict has formed into a stalemate, with the front lines today having changed little from 2 years ago. The war has taken the lives of hundreds of thousands of human lives on both sides, with an estimated 500,000 Russian and Ukrainian soldiers killed or wounded, the bloodiest European war since WW2. While there is so much more that could be said about the motivations of the combatants that created this conflict, I will leave the judging of the rights and wrongs up to you, the students; I have done my best to give you only the facts in an unbiased form.
Now that you know the what, it’s time to dive into the why. Except there is one major difference with the why: instead of me giving you the why, you’re going to find it yourself.
UNDERSTAND
Assignment: Sign-up for a country here, and find out why that country is involved in this war. The countries listed at the top of the doc are the easiest to study, because they are directly involved, and the further down the list you go, the less involved the countries get and the harder to study. Choose any of the countries I have listed, or you can find a country yourself and sign-up in one of the bottom slots. Regardless of what you pick, just make sure you come to class prepared to explain how they are involved, why they are involved, and what they hope to gain. Please note; The easier countries, the ones that are more involved in the conflict, will probably be more involved during our debate in class, so choose wisely.
Now I’ll explain what we’ll be doing in class. I already talked about this in my first class, but in case you’ve forgotten here’s the rundown.
Class on Thursday will mainly consist of two parts; presentations and a debate.
Assignment: Prepare a brief 2-minute presentation on both how and why the country you chose is involved in the Ukraine War, also what your country hopes to gain from involvement. If you can somehow make it interesting and/or fun, then great job. However, I understand that this topic could be difficult to make an interesting presentation out of, even for me, and 2 minutes Isn’t a long time. So I’ll say that this is the only class that it will be acceptable to stand up and talk for your presentation.
Assignment: Take a deeper dive into the reasons why your country is involved in the war. In class we will have a debate, and your goal is to convince the rest of the class that your country is in the right. Obviously some countries start at a disadvantage, but don’t let that deter you; I truly believe that if you put in the effort and study hard, anyone can make a compelling argument or even win.
Pro-tips for success:
- While you should look deep into the reasons your country is involved, that’s a requirement. If you want to really stand out during our debate, become familiar with the talking points the other side will use (example: USA should be prepared to answer questions about NATO expansion).
- Notice the geography of not just your country, but the countries surrounding it. Geography can and does play a key role in this war (example: Two of the best ports for the Russian navy to access the Atlantic Ocean are through the Black Sea and Baltic Seas. Each requires passage through a maritime choke point controlled by a NATO member).
- Remember the liquid gold of the world: oil and gas. If you look at your stat sheet from last month, you’ll notice that only one country in the top 10 is in Europe: Russia. If you then look at Oil consumption (there is only one on your stat sheet, but if you look back at this website you’ll find 9 in the top 30), notice how many of the countries in NATO and the EU are top consumers. Since Russia is the closest large producer, many NATO members import massive amounts of Russian oil and gas. Except you can’t buy products from someone you’re at war with, so now NATO is in an energy emergency, making them extra vulnerable.
- If you have questions or have no idea where to start studying, feel free to text me at 385-450-0914. If you think you can complete the assignments about your country than I would encourage you to do it yourself. If the only place to study you can think of is Wikipedia, then please ask for help if you feel you need it.
Become
Read D&C 45:26, then read Joseph Smith Mathew 1:23. Wars and rumors of wars are mentioned quite a bit in the scriptures, but I want to highlight the difference between these two verses. Why do you think that people’s hearts will fail them when they see the wars around them? How can we ‘be not troubled’ when we see the same thing? Right down any impressions that come to you in your journal.
Have fun studying, and I’ll see you in class!
