Geopolitical reflections on Europe and Russia: 30 years of unification and division prior to February 24, 2022

Abstract

The Russian attack on Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and the ensuing international conflicto between these two states, have had a profound political, economical, social and military impact on the entire world, including Latin America. One way of explaining the conflict has been using the concepts of “spheres of interests” and “spheres of influence” in a geopolitical scope, that is based on a model that only includes two Great Powers as actors. Following this model, a popular version implies that the United States of America (USA) caused the Russian occupations of Ukraine following 2014, because by coming closer to Ukraine, they intruded into the Russian sphere of interest. Moreover, it has been implied that the USA provoked Russia by expanding NATO into the Russian sphere of interest following 1990. This article argues that there are at least two different ways of applying the concepts of spheres of interest and spheres of influence, and, that the European Union should be considered a geopolitical actor in Europe. Moreover, it will be argued that it is necessary to consider second and third rank powers, as geopolitical actors in the European context.