In the context of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, I was asked erstwhile “how come a country can just take land in the 21st century and no 1 seems to be bothered about it?” The short answer to this is due to the fact that we live in a postcolonial world. For centuries we lived in a political strategy where stronger states conquered weaker nations and it was the average state of affairs. It was only late that the European powers recognized that their imperial conquests were immoral and inhumane and began to decision towards the designation of the universal values of human rights, respect for human dignity, and the sovereignty of tiny nations. Unfortunately, imperialism, being the norm for centuries, cannot be easy erased. Its curse lives on in the West in different forms, with any now dubbing it as “neo-imperialism”. 1 erstwhile empire, the Russian Federation, not only does not admit its crimes of conquest but continues to commit them with no moral quarrels. It is between and against these powers, both Russian imperialism and western neo-imperialism, that Ukraine finds itself fighting for its independence.
Imperialism and colonialism
The Cambridge dictionary defines the word “imperialism” as a strategy in which a country rules another countries, with the imperial power sometimes having utilized force to gain this influence. Imperialism was seen across historical empires and is closely associated with territorial gains. What is important, however, is the ideological conditions under which territorial expansion can take place. all aggressive state which has expanded its territory by force had to make a communicative of inherent superiority, be it on cultural or ideological grounds. For Nazi Germany in the 1930s, the thought of “Lebensraum” (living space) and the seemingly natural superiority of the Aryan race deemed it lawful and, in fact, essential for Germany to destruct the neighbouring Polish population. This would let the Germans to occupy Polish land, with its vast fields of nature, in order to have adequate surviving (or breathing) space. Germany, after being humiliated in the First planet War, had an inherent duty, as a superior nation, to take these lands to guarantee the natural prosperity of their superior German race. Imperialism is, therefore, not only a justified process but frequently the natural way concerning the advancement of a nation. No territorial expansion can take place without the underlying communicative of superiority behind it. As a result, it is precisely this ideology that yet enables and defines imperialism – the belief that your very existence is superior to others and that you have the inherent right, or even a necessity, to conquer.
Colonialism, a strategy in which 1 country controls another country or more through the establishment of colonies, is simply a manifestation of imperialism. There is no colonialism without imperialism. Between the 15th century and sometime after the Second planet War, the European empires colonized the majority of the planet under the pretext of European modernity and the Enlightenment. In the second half of the 20th century, and with the birth of universal human rights, the colonized nations of the 3rd planet rose and declared independency from their colonial masters. It was during this time that a consciousness about the crimes of European imperialism emerged. Western academia subsequently began to survey the impact and legacy of European colonial expansion through the creation of postcolonial studies. The West has condemned transatlantic slavery and imperial conquest, and European colonialism has now ended.
Whilst the decolonization movement shook the European empires and forced them to rethink their colonial past, the curse of imperialism proved not easy cured erstwhile it came to the colonizers. Despite the end of the era of conventional European conquest, the western powers continued to engage in what has been branded neo-imperialism – providing aid only to countries that agree to adopt western principles of governance, the monopolization of the marketplace economy, and continued labour exploitation are just a fewer examples. American incursions into the mediate East since 9/11 have besides been proclaimed as a fresh form of western imperialism. What connects these fresh forms of imperialism to the old means of conquest is the continued and persistent communicative of western inherent superiority. This can be seen in the promotion of democratic governance as the best political strategy to always exist, the American divine crusade against terror, and the exploitation of the 3rd planet to support the capital growth and welfare of the West, which inherently deserves it the most.
The decolonization movement that swept across the 3rd and First Worlds in the 20th century bypassed the Second planet (Soviet Union and states formerly under the business or influence of the russian Union). This was due to European powers having small to no presence or interest in the Second World. Edward Said, the pioneer of western postcolonial studies, specifically excluded the Russian Empire from his seminal book Orientalism. This is due to the fact that Russia was not an overseas empire. This exclusion was to have crucial consequences for global stableness as it allowed Russian imperialism to proliferate unchallenged for decades to come. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is simply a symptom of western academic blindness to Russian imperialism.
Russia besides did not concern itself with discussing its imperial crimes. erstwhile the russian Union collapsed, and the restored independent states requested designation of the russian business and illegality of papers specified as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, Russia alternatively chose denial. erstwhile Chechnya demanded independency from Russia and fought 2 brutal wars of independence, Moscow chose the way of full destruction. At the same time, the West covered for these crimes against humanity under the cloak of “Islamic terrorism” and the “internal problems of Russia”, which the West had nothing to do with. erstwhile postcolonial studies emerged in the western planet to deal with the colonial legacy, Russia branded postcolonial scholars as proponents of a extremist left/feminist ideology, incompatible with the conservative conventional values of Russia. As western discipline excluded Russia and Russia excluded itself, Russian imperialism continued long after the collapse of the Russian Empire and the russian Union. The Kremlin invaded Georgia in 2008, illegally annexed Crimea in 2014 in the heartland of Europe, assisted Assad in maintaining his authoritarian grip in Syria in 2015, and invaded Ukraine again in 2022. Russia did this in what was expected to be an global rules-based global order – a postcolonial planet where conventional conquest has ended.
The origins of Russian imperialism and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24th 2022 is yet another manifestation of rampant Russian imperialism in the planet of the global rules-based order. The Russian Empire was the third-largest and most durable empire of all time. Historically, Russia conquered its current neighbours in the West (Poland, the Baltic States, Belarus and Ukraine) as well as the indigenous populations and countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus in the East.
A historical Russian imperialism can be found in the very formation of what is now known as the Russian Federation. The Ukrainian historian Volodymyr Yermolenko notes that since the 15th century, erstwhile Russia freed itself from the Mongol occupation, it already had a global, imperialist aim. Whilst the European nations firstly established themselves locally, as nation-states before embarking on colonial expeditions with the Enlightenment, European modernity and racism as their imperial ideology, Russia instantaneously proclaimed itself as the “Third Rome” (successor to both the Western and then east Roman Empire) and a successor to Kyivan Rus’. The very thought of Russia has become the thought of imperialism and expansion. Imperial ideology allowed Russia to start weaving the communicative of Russia’s Slavic and spiritual superiority over another nations in the region, making overland conquest not only justified but somewhat anticipated and natural. Catherine the large famously said that the only way to defend Russia is to extend its borders, revealing that the very existence of the Russian state means expansion.
In the occupied lands in the West, the Russian Empire ruled through assimilation and Russification, usurping conquered nations, banning languages and eliminating the local intelligentsia. It besides imported Russians, who appropriated culture and past as their own as a means of perpetuating Russia’s imperialist communicative of inherent superiority. Later in the 20th century, the russian triumph over Nazi Germany in the Second planet War besides contributed to the communicative of Russian superiority. This is despite the fact that a crucial proportion of those who died in the war in the east Front were of Ukrainian and Belarusian ethnicities. Overall, the thought of inherent Russian superiority is not inherent at all – it was mostly manufactured by force and by falsifying history. erstwhile the russian Union collapsed in 1991 and the occupied nations declared independence, Russia was expected to head on a democratic path. However, rampant corruption, a Russian national identity closely intertwined with imperialism, russian nostalgia, poverty, and an unwillingness to let go of its remaining occupied territories revived Russian imperialism. This was seen as early as 1994, erstwhile Chechnya fought the Russian Federation for independence.
The communicative of superiority and manufactured past formed the basis for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which regained its independency in 1991. 3 days prior to the war, on February 21st 2022, Russian president Vladimir Putin gave an hour-long speech that focused on a falsified historical account. This aimed to prove that Ukraine does not be and that Kyivan Rus’ is the legitimate birthplace of modern Russia. He added that Russia and Ukraine are indivisible, brotherly nations. However, in reality this brotherhood is based on the brutally enforced centuries-long Russification of Ukraine. Furthermore, speaking of the 2014 Euromaidan in Ukraine, Putin declared that Ukraine’s EU/NATO aspirations were simply western imperialist meddling in the Russian region of influence. This was all done in an effort to bring the NATO border closer to Russia. Putin denied agency to the 44 million Ukrainians, deeming them objects (rather than subjects) between western and Russian imperial games. The denial of agency and thought of inherent Russian superiority, with Moscow only taking back what belongs to it, provided justification for the invasion of Ukraine. This caused the top global safety threat since the Second planet War and a fresh wave of Russian war crimes.
Nuclear imperialism
Russian imperialism in Ukraine, however, was enabled by western atomic imperialism. atomic imperialism in postcolonial terms refers to the current geopolitical order whereby only the dominant states, frequently the erstwhile empires, have atomic weapons. This has created fresh forms of domination in the absence of imperial conquest. The Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), signed in 1968, is the primary origin of evidence for atomic imperialism. The NPT came into being during the Cold War to guarantee that atomic weapons proliferation was controlled and that non-nuclear states do not get atomic weapons. Only the permanent 5 members of the United Nations safety Council (France, the US, the UK, Russia and China) are recognized atomic weapons states. Non-signatories like Pakistan, Israel, India and North Korea are believed to have atomic weapons but they are not recognized as atomic powers. Their possession of atomic weapons possession is considered rogue, in violation with global principles that are dictated by the West.
It is imperialism due to the fact that only the erstwhile empires are deemed to be liable atomic states, whereas another nations are naturally perceived as irresponsible, reckless and dangerous. Not only has this been proven blatantly false in light of Russia’s atomic recklessness in the war in Ukraine, but besides the western states were the ones that utilized atomic weapons on civilian populations (the US on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the UK’s atomic investigating in the Pacific). atomic imperialism reveals that even if the conventional conquest has ended (at least in the West), imperialism and the thought of inherent superiority live on through fresh forms of domination.
It was in this fresh western neo-imperial order that Ukraine found itself in 1991, erstwhile it inherited a large atomic arsenal from the russian Union. Ukraine, having restored its independence, and wishing to follow a western path, was looking to break distant from Russian influence and join the western democratic family. In accordance with the NPT, and to be full accepted in the global rules-based order, however, Ukraine was asked to quit its atomic arsenal. The permanent 5 members of the UN safety Council promised Kyiv safety guarantees in return. The Budapest Memorandum was signed in 1994 to that effect and was long deemed 1 of the success stories of atomic disarmament. That was until Russia, 1 of the countries that promised the safety guarantees, attacked Ukraine in 2014 and again in 2022. Another, China, besides supported Russia through economical means. What is more, the remaining western signatories (the US, the UK and France), whilst providing military assistance to Ukraine to defend itself against Russia, failed to defend Ukrainian citizens and land from Russian terror, demolition and occupation. Ukraine’s disarmament yet showed that the safety guarantees that it was provided only helped the erstwhile empires to keep the imperial order of domination. The western states ensured Ukraine could not start a atomic war in self-defence, which could put the West itself at risk. It besides helped Russia defend its perceived right to invade. By not signing the treaty, Ukraine was at hazard of possible banishment from the global rules-based western order. However, giving up its atomic weapons made it susceptible to Russian imperialism. It was between 2 imperialisms, atomic and Russian, that Ukraine had to choose from, with either decision leading to a loss. Whilst Ukraine chose the western way due to its moral stance and commitment to western values, yet it was the western atomic imperialism that enabled Russia to launch the attack.
Denial of agency
Manifestations of western neo-imperialism did not end with atomic imperialism. erstwhile Vladimir Putin ordered his armed forces to take Kyiv in 3 days, it was widely believed both in the West and Russia that Ukraine would fall immediately. CNN reported on February 25th 2022 that “the first US assessment from before the invasion – which anticipated that the Ukrainian capital would be overrun within 1 to 4 days of a Russian attack – remains the current expectation.” The UK Joint Forces Command’s General Sir Christopher Deverell, in an interview with Sky News on February 27th, said that Ukraine will likely fall at any point. Similarly, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported on March 11th that Russian officials besides expected a swift victory.
None of these predictions by major global powers were correct, as unmatched Ukrainian courage has been able to defy Russia’s imperial ambitions to this day – Ukraine remains a sovereign and free nation. The failure to realize Ukrainian opposition is explained by both Russia and the West failing to give agency to Ukraine. They did not accept that Ukraine is simply a subject with its own feelings, existence, past and people to whom the scars of Russia’s imperial crimes are etched deep. Ukrainians know through the mass deportations, forced Russification, repressions, and the Russian-made famine that killed millions in Ukraine in 1932-33, that surrender to Russia means death. opposition becomes a fight to survive. For imperialist Russia and the post-imperialist West, this is hard to understand. This is due to the fact that their cognition and being is founded on the conquest of the powerful and the defeat of the weak. Kyiv’s effective opposition is an oxymoron in the current postcolonial planet order and the confusion both in Russia and the West on what to do next is evidence to that.
As western discipline continues to be hegemonic, mostly excluding the Second planet from colonial inquiry, the question of Ukrainian opposition will baffle western academia for years to come. For those who lived under the business of the russian Union, the Russian Empire or the Russian Federation, this opposition was not only not expected but anticipated. Yet present fewer western powers perceive to their Polish, Ukrainian or Baltic counterparts, as the West is inactive incapable to accept that the formerly colonized can have agency. Whilst Russian imperialism is not yet ready to admit its crimes through dialogue, if the western powers truly desire to decision on from their imperial era then they must accept that non-imperial powers have agency. This is the first step to truly breaking the curse of imperialism and adhering to the values of human rights, democracy and freedom that the West claims to protect. In his book Lithuania transforms the West, Dr. Furmonavicius demonstrates how Lithuania, a state unlawfully occupied by the russian Union in the 20th century, showed the West the real values of democracy and human rights erstwhile it upheld democratic processes and the right to self-determination against the USSR. While the West was very wary of demanding that the russian Union uphold universal human rights, Lithuania showed the West how to commit to its values. Vilnius bravely restored its independency against large psychological, moral and economical force from the USSR. This later turned violent erstwhile 13 civilians were murdered by the Russian army. Lithuania restored its independency and the USSR ceased to be as a consequence of it, saving the US billions in the Cold War arms race.
Military support
The West’s military support for Ukraine besides displays features of the western neo-imperialist order. Ukrainian resistance, from the outset, has been tainted by comments that it is only due to western military assistance that Kyiv is able to successfully defend itself. It is correct that the death toll has been importantly reduced by the arming of Ukraine. However, to insist that Ukraine is only able to defy due to western weapons removes agency from the Ukrainian nation, thereby treating Ukrainians as objects. This presumption does not explain how, for example, in the first fewer days of the war Ukraine repelled a crucial Russian attack on Kyiv. This is despite receiving small military equipment from any of its allies.
The imperialist undertones are besides present erstwhile discussing the kind of weapons supplied to Kyiv. small attention is given to Ukrainian pleas for full military support, specified as closing the sky over the country. Instead, the western countries look at what Russia’s consequence may be to specified a move. The narratives of fear of escalation proceed to feature heavy in political discussions. This is simply a worrying shift in a planet that supposedly promotes universal human rights to all. Russia invaded a sovereign country, yet it is Ukraine who must act with caution as not to upset the invading power. Due to the continued imperialist planet order, the western powers, whilst supporting Ukraine, will nevertheless frequently treat Russia more favourably than they do Ukraine. This is especially actual in terms of military action and approval to strike enemy targets deep inside Russia. By doing this, western states indirectly legitimize Russia’s expansionism despite publically condemning it. In this way, they prolong the war.
Imperialist manifestations are besides evident in the gradual nature of military support. alternatively than supply Ukraine with all the essential military equipment to swiftly defeat Russia, the western countries supply weapons in a slower manner, as if playing 2 games – showing that they value sovereignty, freedom and human rights while at the same time ensuring that Russia does not lose and the imperial planet order is maintained. The defeat of Russia and possible disintegration of the Russian Federation poses a hazard to the West due to Moscow’s dispersed atomic arsenal and China’s imperial ambitions regarding Russian territories in Asia. It is for this reason that the western states are cautious about a Ukrainian victory. The problem, however, is that this half commitment to western values allows Russia to proceed the war. This strengthens Moscow’s position on the global phase and shows to another dictatorships that force and force work (undermining western values). This allows specified governments to successfully proceed to advance populism and another “divide and conquer” tactics in western states, thereby weakening the West’s global influence. A good example of this is the re-election of Donald Trump in 2024, which caused a rift between the US and Ukraine and fractured the West’s previously united and firm position against Russia. This, in turn, strengthens Russia and further weakens all western powers.
Conclusion
Unchecked Russian imperialism has caused 1 of the top safety threats since the Second planet War and opened up yet another brutal theatre of Russian violence. Russia, failing to cure itself from the illness of its own imperialism, invaded Ukraine. In doing so, it killed and tortured civilians and POWs, destroyed infrastructure, kidnapped children and committed thousands of another war crimes. However, it was yet fresh western forms of imperialism that enabled Russia to invade in the first place.
It is clear that there are inactive visible remnants of imperialism. The West must now choose firmly if it wishes to become an example of a prosperous and long-lasting democratic order that supports its allies worldwide, or if it wants to stay an imperial power. There is simply a test coming up ahead. Poland has late requested the US to assist it with acquiring atomic weapons on its territory in order to deter any further Russian incursions into Europe. Whether the West will hold the policy of atomic imperialism or let Poland, a non-former empire, to lawfully have atomic weapons to defend its sovereignty remains to be seen.
It is crucial to reiterate that Russia bears the eventual work and guilt for the invasion of Ukraine. It is not possible to change Russia. However, people surviving in democracies have the power to influence and form the West to abandon its imperial chains. If there is 1 little imperialism to address, that in itself is simply a tiny triumph towards a truly free and democratic world, in which questions like “how come a country can just take land in the 21st century and no 1 seems to be bothered about it?” will no longer be relevant.
Gabriele Kaminskaite is simply a Masters postgraduate in global Relations from the University of Manchester and an early career researcher. She utilises postcolonial explanation to deepen the knowing of Russian imperialism in variety of its forms and manifestations. Her thesis argues that the contemporary Russian opposition’s rhetoric is frequently tainted with imperialist discourse, with a focus on Alexei Navalny. Gabriele besides supports the local Ukrainian community in Manchester, UK in raising awareness about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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