This week, a story with potential global impact has been looming on the border of Ukraine and Russia. Much has been made in the past of the relationship between these two countries. The conflicting ideals of both nations do not mix well in such close proximity to each other. Recently, this reached a fever pitch when Ukraine publicly highlighted that Russia has nearly 100,000 troops crowded around its border. Although one could assume that Russia has clear intentions of assaulting Ukraine, it is unknown as to why they are choosing to do this now, and why they are simply waiting at the border. 

Kyiv’s deputy defence minister stated that the probability of destabilization of the situation in Ukraine is extremely high this winter. Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed these ideas are illegitimate, but it is difficult to imagine another reason for this large troop surge in a confined region. As to why Russia is inciting this pressure on Ukraine, multiple reasons can be drawn but not delineated. Ukraine is in a strategic position for Russia. They share neighbouring borders, and control over this region would give Russia even more real estate on the continent. From a sociopolitical perspective, Ukraine contains many citizens who share Russian ideals, and amalgamating this population into the motherland would serve as an easy grab for additional leverage. 

However, this is terrible news for the rest of the world, as Russia is a militaristic superpower. Conflict with a nation allied to many other powers all around the globe serves as an international threat for all factions. Additionally, an assault on any nation has a high probability of civilian casualties, resulting in the loss of thousands of lives. Also, even if Russia does not conduct an assault on Ukraine, it still serves as a threat to world peace. Constant militaristic pressure and worry stops a developing nation like Ukraine from progressing and becoming a great nation with a developed economy and political landscape.

This issue is important to the Organization for World Peace because it has the potential to impede the wellbeing of innocent civilians, and halt progression of a nation that is striving to embrace all of the idiosyncratic characteristics of their society. The OWP supports the idea of Russia withdrawing troops and working towards a peaceful solution with Ukraine over their differences. This pathway can be accessed through deliberation, negotiation, and reasoning. All global conflicts can be solved in this way, which if fully realized in the material world, would result in a more peaceful environment for everyone on the planet.