The 12 Causes of the Russo-Ukrainian War

Check out my new book “What Caused the Russia-Ukraine War? (And How Will It End?)“ on Amazon (paid link): What caused the Russo-Ukrainian War? This video tackles that question in four phases. First, we examine the substantive reasons Russia invaded Ukraine. Second, I explain why those reasons are collectively a half-cause for war. Third, we switch gears to discuss bargaining problems. Finally, we will investigate what each of these explanations implies for how the war will end. 0:00 Outline 1:19 Separatist Regions 3:54 Crimean Land Bridge 5:02 Russian Irredentism 6:42 East-West Rivalry 7:49 Energy 9:36 Water 10:34 Nazis 12:20 Substantive Explanations Are Half-Causes 12:54 Visualizing War’s Expected Outcome (LINES ON MAPS) 14:21 Costs Incentivize Bargaining 15:09 Bargaining over Oil 17:00 Bargaining over Autonomy 17:34 Why War Is Puzzling 18:52 Preventive War and Shifting Power 21:00 Preemptive War and First Strikes 24:20 Uncertainty and Miscalculation 26:24 Rational, Unitary Actor Explanations for War 27:05 Irrationality 29:39 Personal Benefits 31:28 Substantive Cases and War Termination 32:57 Leadership Change 36:36 Stopping Power Shifts 39:52 Information Convergence 42:29 Endgame Almost in F - Tranquillity by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Source: Artist: Images licensed under CC BY 2.0 (): From OSCE Special Monitoring Mission: From European People’s Party: @N04/5555939209 Images licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 (): From : Images licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 (): From Bundesarchiv: 183-R92623 From Ввласенко: From RIAN archive: #141088 #644461 Images licensed under CC BY 4.0 (): From : From : From Government of Ukraine: From : From : From : From :