Border Battles in Eurasia

When the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, its republics were established as countries with internationally recognized borders. But borders are only as stable as the people within them will allow them to be. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has seemingly opened the floodgates for revisiting old conflicts and tensions, sparking border clashes among other former Soviet republics in the region known as Eurasia. In this episode of Big World, SIS professor Keith Darden, an expert on Eurasian politics, joins us to explain the (literal) lay of the land, why tensions are so high, and why each of these border conflicts is unique. Professor Darden discusses how the post-Soviet borders were settled (2:00) and explains the rationale for Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea (4:14). He talks about why Russia invaded Ukraine and how the different, recently annexed regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson can be viewed as “historically Russian” (11:32). How has Russia’s invasion of Ukraine impacted the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region (13:37)? Why have Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan disputed their shared, semi-undemarcated border since it was established (22:15)? Darden answers these questions and discusses the impact of demographics and geography on these current border clashes. The episode concludes as Darden shares his thoughts about Putin’s future role in the region and the future of borders and border clashes in Eurasia more broadly (28:30). During our “Take Five” segment, Darden shares policies and procedures he would enact to create and settle international borders more effectively (17:30). Keith Darden discusses how the post-soviet borders were settled (2:00) and explains the rationale for Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea (4:14). He talks about why Russia invaded Ukraine and how different regions that have been recently annexed can be viewed as historically Russian (11:32). How has Russia’s invasion of Ukraine impacted the border conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan (13:37)? Why have Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan disputed their shared border since it was established (22:15)? Keith answers these questions and discusses the impact of demographics and geography on these current border clashes. The episode concludes as Keith shares his thoughts on Putin’s role in the future of the region, and what the future of border clashes in Eurasia may look like (28:30). During our “Take Five” segment, Keith shares five policies or procedures he would enact to create and settle international borders more effectively (17:30).