Is the Ukraine War a Territorial Dispute? Geographical Contributions to Understanding and Resolving the Russo-Ukrainian Conflict
- Nick Megoran Professor of Political Geography, Newcastle University (United Kingdom). https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5830-2293
Abstract
What would a peaceful resolution of the Russia-Ukraine war look like? To begin to answer that this article views the origins of the conflict through a geographical lens rather than the reductive historical framing that has dominated political punditry in the US and UK. Located in comparative literature on nationalism which suggests that territorial disputes are the norm rather than the exception in post-Soviet borderlands, it explores how the Ukraine conflict demonstrates a series of political geographical issues at the local, regional, and national scales. Following Millar in adopting a trans-scalar conception of the inter-relation of peace and conflict, it draws on comparative examples to suggest creative ways in which these issues might be addressed in future peace negotiations.
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