YDS 2021 in Review
2021 is an anthology of articles, photo essays and opinions of students in international relations. With a year full of decade-defining events across the globe, this anthology is a must-read to reflect upon the year that was 2021. This anthology was created by Young Diplomats Society. For more information, please visit our website www.theyoungdiplomats.com.
2021 is an anthology of articles, photo essays and opinions of students in international relations. With a year full of decade-defining events across the globe, this anthology is a must-read to reflect upon the year that was 2021.
This anthology was created by Young Diplomats Society. For more information, please visit our website www.theyoungdiplomats.com.
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
Historically, Russia has sought to secure its interests in the region by controlling
Crimea. This peninsula provides Moscow with a platform to project power into the
Black Sea. The naval base at Sevastopol serves as home to Russia's southern fleet.
Meanwhile, the narrow Kerch Strait which divides the Black Sea from the Sea of Azov
also grants maritime access to eastern Ukraine and to central Russia via the Don
River. As such, control over the Kerch Strait is of vital economic importance to both
Moscow and Kyiv.
In 1936, the Montreux Convention codified the Black Sea's geopolitical order. The
agreement placed limitations on warships entering the area via the Turkish Straits.
These included restrictions on fleet size, tonnage, and duration of stay. Fleets native
to the Black Sea were given preferential treatment, and commercial vessels were
granted unfettered access to the sea during peacetime. Even though the Soviet
Union attempted to revise the international agreement, the region generally
remained stable throughout the Cold War.
P O S T - S O V I E T T E N S I O N S
More recent tensions in the Black Sea can be traced to the collapse of the Soviet
Union in 1991. The conclusion of the Cold War caused a paradigm shift in
international relations, reopening questions of regional power dynamics. Following
the dissolution of the former superpower into 15 smaller states, Russia was
deprived of access to much of its Black Sea shoreline.
To make matters worse, the US seemingly moved to capitalise upon Russia’s
vulnerable state through its active incorporation of various former Warsaw Pact
states into NATO. In 2004, both Romania and Bulgaria joined the NATO alliance.
With half the Black Sea's neighbours now under Washington's sway, Moscow began
to fear encirclement.
These fears were realised in April 2008 during a conference in Bucharest, where
NATO declared its long-term intention to incorporate the two remaining Black Sea
states of Georgia and Ukraine into the organisation. This decision was viewed as
controversial, even within the Western bloc - with German, French, and Italian
officials expressing concerns that the move could provoke confrontation with
Russia.
P A G E 3 0 | 2 0 2 1 B Y Y D S
Change language