Ukraine Conflict as a Case of the Political Contradictions of Contemporary Imperialism

Abstract

ABSTRACT The article examines the role of politics and ideology in post-Cold War imperialism, focusing on the current conflict between Russia, Ukraine, the United States, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and the European Union. The article argues that primary causes are not economic but primarily political and ideological. While there are clear raisons d’etat that explain all sides’ decisions, the article claims that there is a contradiction between the raisons d’etat and an objectively rational assessment of the stated goals and the actors’ ability to attain them. The article concludes that while the Marxist understanding of imperialism includes a focus on both its political and economic dynamics, they can sometimes over-emphasize the economic and objective rationality of political decisions. The current conflict in Ukraine, the article will argue, is a paradigm example of raisons d’etat becoming unhinged from objectively rational strategies and economically rational capitalist motives.