The US-Russia conflict in the Ukrainian crisis: Unipolarism versus revisionism?

Abstract

This chapter seeks to analyse the causes of the clash between the United States and Russia over the Ukrainian question since the 1990s. Despite America's evident military and economic superiority, Russia has continued to constitute a potential challenger, in terms of revisionist power, especially since Putin's rise to power. In this perspective, the paper starts by presenting an overview of the country's difficult situation from independence to the crisis now under way and then goes on to examine the reasons for this crisis in relation to the three aims pursued by US foreign policy in post-communist Europe, namely the promotion of democracy, expansion of the EU and enlargement of NATO.