Euro-Atlantic Studies (EAS) is an academic, peer-reviewed, and open-access journal, published by the Centre of Euro-Atlantic Studies „Prof.univ.dr. Constantin Bușe” of the University of Bucharest. Founded in 1998, the journal aims to make available to the scientific community and the general public the results of recent academic research in the field of International Relations. The Journal also aims to provide help to authors to publish their papers conveniently and spread their research worldwide, stimulating academic debate in the field of social sciences. We try our best to ensure the novelty of each research manuscript being published in EAS.
Centre for Euro-Atlantic Studies "Prof. Univ. Dr. Constantin Bușe", University of Bucharest
Emilio Gentile, E subito fu regime. Il fascismo e la Marcia su Roma
The "March on Rome" historiography has been marked by deeply conflicting interpretations, reflecting this major historical event's complexity and antagonistic nature. In the book Le origini del fascismo in Italia. Lezioni di Harvard, the historian Gaetano Salvemini had shown in the 1940s that the event was little more than an “opera buffa,” an absurd display without a revolutionary substance. This perspective portrays the March as a mere theatrical staging, a calculated spectacle orchestrated to create the illusion of a grassroots uprising
Copyright (c) 2025 Euro-Atlantic Studies New Series
Mihai Manea, Consiliul Europei. Politică și predarea istoriei în Europa,
Since its creation in 1949, the Council of Europe has promoted human rights and freedoms, consolidated democracy, political dialogue, and cooperation between states in the social, economic, and cultural sectors. Intending to have a united Europe, in which the inclusion and acceptance of diversity are some of the critical elements in the growth of the individual, the Council of Europe has been involved throughout the second half of the 20th century, continuing until now in the development of different levels of education in Europe, especially in teaching history. The importance that the Council of Europe has given to history as a subject in European schools is motivated by history's ability to influence the masses. Depending on its nuances, history can be a tool for division or unity among nations and peoples. Considering this feature of history, the Council of Europe understood that having a society that knows the European identity and finds itself in it, history becomes a mandatory discipline within the education systems and fundamental for developing European citizens.
Michael Cox, Agonies of Empire: American Power from Clinton to Biden
With an unprecedented position in the history of international relations after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the United States and its power preoccupied pundits and historians alike. In the last 30 years, they tried to analyse the sources of American power, its limits, and even its possible decline. The multiple crises that put American hegemony to the test after the Cold War created an ongoing debate between those with a declinist position, who foresee the inevitability demise of American power, and those with an optimistic view, who continue to believe in the dominance of U.S. global leadership.
The importance of citizen engagement in the implementation of sustainable development policies in Romania
Sustainable development is at the core of every major decision in international politics, as the direction of the international community has been set towards protecting and restoring the resources of the planet. Although the goals are the same, each country is at a different level of achievement regarding the agreed-upon objectives. This article focuses on the current point Romania is in, the progress which has been made, and the path that lies ahead, analysed from the perspective of correcting measures that could help set its course on the right trajectory. Special attention is paid to the role that public participation has in implementing European policies designed to help the block follow through with its goal at the national level, in Romania. Considering that the literature is limited in this sphere, this article aims to connect some of the principal sustainable development pillars, contributing to the creation of a more complex picture of the actual context in Romania and the different dimensions that factor in the implementation of new policies.
Reform of Diplomacy. Toward diplomacy’s reform?
The scientific literature about diplomacy is becoming increasingly extensive globally, although its quality is quite rare at the level required by substantial intellectual criteria. However, we can positively mention that in 2023, a new comprehensive book signed by Paul Webster Hare, Juan Luis Manfredi-Sánchez, and Kenneth Weisbrode as Editors, under the title The Palgrave Handbook of Diplomatic Reform and Innovation, appeared in the publishing house Palgrave Macmillan. The book has 758 pages covering 36 chapters as follows: Part I Introduction; Diplomacy the Neglected Global Issue: Why Diplomacy Needs to Catch Up with the World; Part II State of Diplomacy; The Closing of the Diplomatic Mind; A Diplomatic Taxonomy for the New World Disorder; Knowledge Diplomacy: A Conceptual Analysis; Why Reforms Are Needed in Bilateral Diplomacy: A Global South Perspective; Part III Politicization of Diplomacy; Diplomats and Politicization; Digital Diplomacy and International Society in the Age of Populism; Withering Ministry of 1 Doctor in political sciences (international law) of Geneva University (1968); Doctor honoris causa in international law of Assumption University of Thailand (1998); alternate representative of Romania to the United Nations Security Council (1990-1991); Ambassador of Romania to the Kingdom of Thailand and permanent observer to international organizations based in Bangkok (1994-1999); Visiting Professor in Assumption University in Bangkok (2000-2019.) EAS New Series no.7/2024 136 Foreign Affairs: Evidence from China; South Africa and its Foreign Alignment and Practice: From Hope to Dashed Expectations; Part IV Reforming Institutions; From Great Expectations to Dwindling Status: Brazilian Diplomacy’s Response to Post-Cold War Upheavals; Crisis Prevention and Stabilization Made in Germany: Meeting the Demands of Modern Diplomacy? Integrated Statecraft and Australia’s Diplomacy; African Union Reform: Challenges and Opportunities; What Motivates South Korea’s Diplomatic Reform and Innovation?The Transformations of French Diplomacy; Part V Digital Revolution and Diplomatic Reform; Digital Diplomacy in the Time of the Coronavirus Pandemic: Lessons and Recommendations; Exploring the Usefulness of Artificial Intelligence for Diplomatic Negotiations: Two Case Studies; Beyond Meeting and Tweeting: The Next Challenges for Innovation in Diplomacy; Disinformation and Diplomacy; Digitalizing South American MFAs: Reform and esistance; Part VI Multilateral Diplomacy and Innovation; Toward a More Credible Multilateralism at the United Nations: A Few Practical Steps; A New Logic of Multilateralism on Demand; About Spheres of Influence; Regional Diplomacy and Its Variations: Change and Innovation; Why Collective Diplomacy Needs to Embrace Innovation; Innovating International Cooperation for Development: A New Model for Partnerships Between Developed and Middle-Income Countries; The UAE’s Innovative Diplomacy: How the Abraham Accords Changed (or Did Not Change) Emirati Foreign Policy; Small States: From Intuitive to Smart Diplomacy; Urban Diplomacy: How Cities Will Leverage Multilateralism; Reforming Global Health Diplomacy in the Wake of COVID-19 ; The Reform of Humanitarian Diplomacy; Geoeconomic Diplomacy: Reforming the Instrumentalization of Economic Interdependencies and Power; Science Diplomacy with EAS New Series no.7/2024 137 Diplomatic Relations to Facilitate Common-Interest Building; Climate Diplomacy for a 1.5 Degree World; Global Diplomacy and Multi- stakeholderism: Does the Promise of the 2030 Agenda Hold? Conclusions. We have enumerated the titles of all the chapters of the book to offer a panoramic view of the whole volume, familiarizing the readers of this article with the integral content of this excellent collective research and underlining the complexity of any serious analysis dedicated to the reform of diplomacy during an era characterized by global vulnerabilities, perplexities, and discontinuities. But how can diplomacy be reformated when it is experiencing a serious crisis, both at the bilateral and multilateral levels, and how can the crisis of diplomacy itself be defined?
Foreign policy of the Russian Federation: focus on the post-Soviet area (1991 - 2000)
The given work focuses primarily on researching the political situation following the collapse of the USSR and Russia's attempts at consolidation in the last decade of the 20th century. The approach to the subject is based on the theory of realism, examining the subject from the perspective of the Kremlin's interests in certain geographical areas and its mode of interaction with states in those regions. Thus, each region has represented and continues to represent a strategic area of interest for both Russia and other regional or global powers. Consequently, various strategies are anticipated, initiated, or carried out in approaching a particular state or group of states collectively. However, all these have also had a rather negative effect on the policies promoted by Moscow, especially in the case of certain states such as Azerbaijan. Moreover, certain events in the post-Soviet political arena have demonstrated the Kremlin's weakness in stabilizing situations that have spiraled out of control.
Negotiating with a declining power: The American – Soviet Diplomacy in the context of German reunification
The unexpected opening of the Berlin Wall on the evening of November 9, 1989, was a turning point in history, bringing the division of the Cold War to an end. Although the crumbling of the communist bloc seemed almost inevitable in the autumn of 1989, the reunification of Germany was still an outlying goal. But taking advantage of the opportunity that the wall's fall brought, the leaders of that time tried to accelerate history and bring German reunification to a fait accompli. The United States influenced the unification process through its effort to overcome the Allies’ suspicion of a reunited Germany and preserve the American role in the future of European and German security. The high-level talks between the United States and the Soviet Union in the period 1989-1990 reveal the shifting distribution of power and the beginning of a new security architecture. Drawing on records of conversations, memoranda of face-to-face and telephone conversations, speeches, public statements and memoirs, this paper examines the diplomatic interactions between Washington and Moscow during the process of German reunification. Over the ten months of negotiations, the official objectives of the United States and the Soviet Union were widely opposed. With events slipping out of his control in Eastern Europe and with a weaker political position at home, Mikhail Gorbachev attempted to secure a gradual reunification and a neutral Germany, but the readjustments of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the economic assistance given by the Federal Republic of Germany made the Soviet leader accept the Western terms. The paper aims to discover how the United States and the Soviet Union found ways to cooperate in the final act of the Cold War, what were the motivations and the aims of the main political actors and why the questions raised during that period remain a source of tension and controversy in the relations between the United States and today’s Russia.
The Restoration of Romanian-Belgian Economic Relations between 1957 and 1972. Information Collection
The historiography of both Romania and Belgium has insuffi ciently examined the economic relations between the two countries during the post-war period. This article aims to provide an analysis of the eff orts undertaken by Romania and Belgium to establish new economic treaties, despite facing signifi cant political and social challenges. Offi cial visits by ministers and various secondary political fi gures, including senators and mayors from both nations, played a crucial role in enhancing bilateral trade exchanges. The economic policies of the Benelux Union—comprising Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg—tended to favor a trade balance that was advantageous to Belgium, placing the Socialist Republic of Romania at a consistent disadvantage. Nonetheless, Romania's strategic and economic interests compelled it to maintain and pursue economic relations with the Kingdom of Belgium.
An introduction on the politicization of arts in Imperial Russian left-wing movements: from Western models towards original developments
Although the politicization of artistic content has been around us since Antiquity, a much more refined approach towards this segment came to shape during the nineteenth century, as philosophical, doctrinary and ideological thought became much more complex. Across Europe, during these times of ideological strifes, art has started to regain attention, but this time in political circles, on all sides of the political specter, as a tool to further and enhance various political agendas. Usually overlooked by historians in favour of studying more contemporary phenomenons such as Soviet-era Socialist Realism head-on, the basis for a politicised direction in arts by the left-wing movements in Russia was established much earlier than the postrevolutionary period. Due to a lack of first-hand articles on this certain aspect, this paper will be centered around the idea of a disseminator of general considerations, that is based upon text analysis of different fundamental political or philosophical works that hold such information regarding the evolution towards political aesthetics in the left-wing intelligentsia or political discourse in the Russian Empire. Given the fact that this concept is still underresearched, the main goal of this study is to give a framework to the main aspects of the prerevolutionary beginnings of political aesthetics or discourse on art in the aforementioned leftist movements. A secondary goal of this research is to create an efficient introduction resource for students or other interested readers. The paper is structured as follows: The beginnings of such processes from Western models to the Russian case, being represented by the contribution of Nikolay Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky, a view upon Classical Marxist approaches towards art and aesthetics, the birth of Russian Orthodox Marxist theory, starting with the works of Gerogi Valentinovich Plekhanov and ending with the political praxis of Plekhanov’s ideas, represented by the actions of Vladimir Ilych Ulianov (Lenin). The authors that have been chosen in this study, especially on the Russian case studies, were selected based on their relevant contributions and impact on theory and practice as a whole, excluding peripheral opinions and contributions (e.g. Pisarev or Dobrolyubov in the Narodnik case).
Mark Galeotti, Putin's Wars: From Chechnya to Ukraine
To comprehend the brutal war initiated by Russia against Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Mark Galeotti published, shortly after the outbreak of the conﬂict, a comprehensive and insightful analysis of Vladimir Putin's military campaigns. The author is a British scholar and expert in Russian and European security aﬀairs. He has written extensively on topics related to Russian politics, organized crime, intelligence, and military aﬀairs. Mark Galeotti is known for his insightful analyses and commentary on Putin’s regime, and he has authored numerous books and articles on the subject.
Copyright (c) 2024 Euro-Atlantic Studies New Series
Mihai Manea, Consiliul Europei. Politică și predarea istoriei în Europa
Since its creation in 1949, the Council of Europe has promoted human rights and freedoms, the consolidation of democracy, political dialogue, and cooperation between states in the social, economic, and cultural sectors. Intending to have a united Europe, in which the inclusion and acceptance of diversity are some of the key elements in the growth of the individual, the Council of Europe has been involved throughout the second half of the 20th century, continuing until now, in the development of different levels of education in Europe, especially in teaching history.
Pierre-Jean Luizard, Le piège Daech. L’État islamique ou le retour de l’Histoire
Written in 2014, released at the publishing house from Paris, La Découverte, the book Le piège Daech. L’État islamique ou le retour de l’Histoire stands as an elucidatory reading not only on the terrorism and Islamic State issues but also on the contemporary history of the Arab states. The author of this book is Pierre-Jean Luizard, a French historian and researcher specialized in the religious and political problems in the Middle East. Currently, he holds the position of research director at Centre National de la Recherche Scientiﬁque in Paris. Aside from Le piège Daech, Luizard published works like La Question irakienne (2002) and Laïcités autoritaires en terres d’islam (2008), as well as articles for the French press.
Daniel Tudor, Coreea de Sud: povestea unui fenomen economic, politic și cultural
Daniel Tudor is a writer, entrepreneur, and former journalist from Manchester, U.K. He worked for The Economist from 2010 to 2013 as Korea Correspondent, writing about North and South Korea. Tudor graduated with a BA in philosophy, politics, and economics from Oxford University and acquired an MBA from the University of Manchester`s Business School. Among his writings, the most controversial book is North Korea Confidential published in 2015 and translated into Romanian in 2020, a book which ultimately brought him threats from North Korea`s regime. Among other papers, he wrote Korea: The Impossible Country (2012), A Geek in Korea (2014) and Ask a North Korean (2018). He worked as an advisor to the international press to the Moon Jae-In administration between 2017-2018.
Richard Ned Lebow, Why Nations Fight: Past and Future Motives for War
Why Nations Fight: Past and Future Motives for War by Richard Ned Lebow was published for the first time in 2010 at Cambridge University Press, and it is a scholarly work made up of 295 pages on the subject of international relations. It deals with the frequency and characteristics of the wars that occurred in the last four centuries and analyses the reasons and risks taken by the combative parts, in relation to the realist theory of war, the rationalist theory, and the theory of the transition of power, using as arguments multiple historical examples. The book is divided into three parts: the previous literature’s analysis and critical remarks referring to war and its causes; a short review of the author’s international relations theory and six claims about the type of states that are more likely to start a war, using as an example an analytic table of the causes, participants and outcome of the wars that occurred since the seventeenth century up to that date; and the probability of war in the future, taking into account fundamental underlying motives like fear, interest, honor or standing. In the end, an Appendix states the original data used in the book, and there is also a bibliographical list and an Index of names and keywords.
Lawrence Freedman, Ukraine and the Art of Strategy
In March 2014, the international community faced one of the most serious crises since the end of the Cold War. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Crimea, which had been part of Ukraine, was now part of the Russian Federation territory. Shortly after, Russia’s unexpected invasion of the Crimean Peninsula was followed by an armed conflict in Eastern Ukraine between pro-Russia separatist rebels and the Ukrainian forces. The actions were condemned by the Western states, Russia being sanctioned for breaching international law. The conflict that emerged seemed to be a turning point for Russia’s relations with the West and a reminder of how fragile the peace could be. The crisis not only isolated Russia on the international scene but also raised the political temperature across Europe, causing NATO to look to its own preparedness for war and the need to shore up deterrence.
NATO’s Nordic Enlargement with Finland and Sweden in the Context of the Ukraine War
This paper aims to analyze the differences between the previous NATO enlargement rounds that took place between 1999-2020 and the current process involving Finland and Sweden in several key aspects. Firstly, the candidate countries' status differs significantly. Unlike many of the countries that joined NATO in the past 25 years, Finland and Sweden are distinguished by their high level of security and a very efficient, well-organized, and technologically advanced armed forces sector. This suggests that their accession process may proceed more smoothly, given their already robust military capabilities and stability. Another important difference lies in the historical context surrounding this enlargement. While previous rounds of Eastern Europe NATO’s enlargement occurred in the aftermath of geopolitical shifts such as the end of the Cold War, Finland and Sweden's accession to NATO is a response to the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. For Finland and Sweden, both non-aligned countries with long borders with Russia, the conflict in Ukraine has served as a stark reminder of their vulnerability to external aggression and the need for robust defense capabilities. The war in Ukraine led Sweden and Finland to seek membership within NATO, a membership accession process that, given the severe geopolitical and military crisis, will swiftly end.
The Security of the Pontic-Baltic Region and Russia's Great Power Status
Russia became a great power fighting for supremacy in the area between the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea; the USSR met its objectives at the end of WW2; post-Cold War Russia looked initially as a normal state, but started to act aggressively after 2000; Russia did so neglecting its obligations in accordance with the UN Charter and the Helsinki Final Act; Moscow’s 2022 aggression on Ukraine calls into question even Russia’s great power status.
Russian commitments to the UN and the OSCE
Geopolitical, geostrategic trilaterally, and geoeconomics of the two Seas: Baltic and Black Sea: The interest of the Russian Federation in these areas
I would like to recall one of the views of the American scholar Robert Kogan, a non-conservative and critic of US foreign policy and a leading proponent of liberal interventionism, who said: "... we are in a moment of the end of dreams and the return to history". Unfortunately, the return to history has a rather or perhaps even too optimistic note if we refer to the years that have passed since the end of the Cold War period, marked among other things by the reduction of some ideological or some military conflicts. Current conditions confirm to us, that what were called "hopes" of the world they did not become realities, and the competition between the great powers was not abandoned, but resumed, and reached a degree and proportions far greater, and with effects far more accentuated and serious, than those we thought of. I am referring in particular to the reality by which the competition that manifests itself, especially in the last few decades, has brought on the stage new actors who impose their presence with a special predisposition from the West to the East and vice versa, with direct reference to the present moment – to China, Japan, North Korea, and Russia and with a relatively short time perspective, India. I am not specifically referring to the large number of the population of China, or India, (which is showing an even greater increase than China's), but to the degree of development and the trend of their evolution in the future.
Cooperation of the Russian Federation with NATO
Digital security- emphasizing the need for a new comprehensive theoretical approach of cybernetic security due to society's digitalization. Glimpses of digitalization in the Black Sea Region
As development of information and communications technologies rapidly advances within nations, it is the responsibility of society’s key stakeholders – business specialists, non-governmental organizations, researchers, academics and policymakers, to provide specialized in-depth awareness in regards to security related issues. In order to achieve knowledge on technological challenges and build tailor-made public policies, society’s key stakeholders ought to tackle the impact of digitalization. Nations need to become aware that the process entails the whole of society. As the digital evolution and revolution emerge and expand become synonymous not only to economic proficiency but to digital disruption as well. We can agree that the evolution of Artificial Intelligence, (Social) Internet of Things, Metaverse, Digital Twins, Human Robots, Virtual Influencers, etc. provides opportunities and challenges to societies that we have never faced before in human history. Given these circumstances, does cybersecurity fully encompass the digital changes and disruption or do we need to further expand our research on digital security?
Putin's Playbook: a comparison between the Russo-Georgian War and the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War
Prior to the 2022 “special military operation” (according to Putin’s view) carried out by the Russian military in Ukraine, in 2008 Russia had another target in sight along its borders, residing in the infamously unstable region of Transcaucasia, Georgia. In an eerily similar fashion to what the current conflict unfolds in terms of Russian military prowess and display of warfare, in August 2008 the Russo – Georgian War marked the beginning of Russia’s reemergence as a military power for both the West as well as its former Soviet constituent states and further deepened the conflict between the NATO block and Russia. The latter plunged into initiating a long streak of instabilities inside the former Soviet states that broke away from the USSR. Many see the Russo-Georgian War of 2008 and the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War as manifestations of a renewed geopolitical rivalry between major world powers. Both wars have been driven by a desire to assert Russian dominance and control over the regions in question and have led to various consequences that have had profound implications for the nations involved. In the case of Russia, the invasion of Ukraine has been seen as the biggest threat to peace and security in Europe since the end of The Cold War. However, for the first part, the Russo-Georgian war solely lasted for 5 days, (stretching from the 8th to the 12th of August), albeit tensions were carried out from earlier that year and turmoil was about to spread at any moment. The primary purpose of sending Russian troops to the separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia was to support these pro-Russian regions’ armies against the Georgian military hidden under different pretexts (i.e., “humanitarian aid” sent to repair a railway in the region of Abkhazia). For the second case, this perspective cannot be applied in the current Russo-Ukrainian war. Despite sporting a similar battle tactic in achieving its goal (keeping in mind that the conflict debuted as early as 2014 with the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, as well as the Donbas region by sending Russian troops under the pretext of defending the local “repressed” minority from the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk, see Fig.No.1), the Russian military has marked only temporary victories at the cost of a staggering number of casualties. This comes to show that Moscow’s war plan carried out in Ukraine might become a lesson for future aggressors in regard to undermining opponents and show how miscalculations can overturn primary predictions, despite the fact that it is a major power with a bristling arsenal. Looking back at the Russo-Georgian War case, the Russians' success had permanently dented Georgia’s image in the long term. It halted the country’s progress of aligning itself with the West by adopting for the first time in 2004 under Mikhail Saakashvili’s presidency a pro-European stance, as well as deterred it from aspiring to join the EU and NATO, by solely remaining a PFP member since 1994. In the case of Ukraine, also a PFP member, but from 1995, their military has undergone training in this NATO partnership and collaboration from that period up to nowadays. Moreover, its geopolitical location, size, and implicated political and economic agents active on its territory also make it a much more valuable pawn on this imaginary chessboard between Russia and the West. NATO and the EU continue their support of Ukraine through the means of its member states that send weapons, ammunition, and many types of light and heavy military equipment, including anti-tank and air defense systems, howitzers, and drones. The Georgian example comes to show that the Russian rhetoric cannot be trusted and that it further continues to spread disinformation, this time around, by accusing Ukraine of staging military provocations in the Eastern Donbas region. Ironically, the Ukrainian government hasn’t had intentions of changing the status quo throughout its eight years of the ongoing war in Donbas by intervening in the occupied Lugansk and Donetsk regions, thus making it even less plausible that Kyiv would have taken such a risk amidst Russia’s largest military mobilization in decades. Putin has gone further, issuing “genocide” claims regarding killings allegedly taking place in the said region. In 2014, the Kremlin justified its military offensive by claiming ethnic Russians were being threatened in eastern Ukraine. Similar accusations were also at the forefront of Russian information warfare in 2008, when the Kremlin blamed Tbilisi for committing ethnic cleansing—a charge later dismissed by a ruling of the European Court of International Rights. This paper aims to draw a comparison between the similarities of the Russian forces’ applied strategies during the Russo-Georgian War of 2008, and the 2014 Annexation of Crimea and Donbas region with aftermaths in the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war respectively, as well as question what were the factors that determined the major differences in the way these two states were perceived by the West, eventually leading to such a different timeline. Furthermore, I will attempt to analyze if one country had more probability to appease to Western political and economic interests, as well as if the geopolitical location and size of Ukraine were of more importance than Georgia’s. I will attempt to justify if Georgia was perceived as a scapegoat that prepared Ukrainian troops for similar future conflict escalations on behalf of Russia, and finally if Russia’s victory in Ukraine is even possible and what the aftermath of that action would be.
A Partnership in Time of Crisis: U.S. - Ukraine Relations during the Obama Administration
Since it gained its independence in 1991, Ukraine received great a ention from the United States. With its strategic position, between East and West, Ukraine and its democratic development after the dissolution of the Soviet Union became a key interest in Western politics. Thus, for almost two decades, U.S. policy towards Ukraine has been centered on achieving and consolidating a democratic, prosperous, and secure country, more closely integrated into Europe and Euro-Atlantic structures. But the large size of Ukraine and its ethnic diversity have made it diﬃcult to consolidate its identity as part of the European models. Besides that, Ukraine’s political scene was dominated by oligarchic „clans” that led the state toward corruption, personal conﬂicts, and a perilous balancing act in foreign policy. For President Barack Obama, the U.S. – Ukraine relations were not a priority in the ﬁrst years of his administration, but as much as Kyiv entered into a political crisis at the end of 2013 and Russia started its incursion in Ukrainian territory, the Obama administration began to give Ukraine much more importance on its foreign policy agenda. The annexation of Crimea in March 2014 and the Russian backing of separatists from eastern Ukraine created an international crisis that tested American leadership and the future of U.S.-Russia relations. This article aims to oﬀer an analysis of the U.S. – Ukraine relations during the Obama presidency, with a primary focus on the measures that the U.S. took after the anti-government protests erupted on the streets of Kyiv in November 2013. The article addresses the problem of NATO enlargement to include Ukraine, why American relations with Kyiv were also viewed as part of U.S. relations with Russia, and why Moscow perceived the U.S. activities in Kyiv as a way to undermine Ukraine’s sovereignty.