Projection of the US-Russian status quo after the annexation of Crimea

In the aftermath of the Cold War when the period of peace manifested itself in the well-established interaction norms prevailing in international relations, the precedent of the Russian aggression against Ukraine, which resulted in the 2014 annexation of Crimea, is seen as a direct threat to the preservers of current international status quo. While the war in Georgia in 2008 was considered to be a conflict of interests between two nations without any violation of international law on Russia’s part, the case of Ukraine illustrated the fundamental contradictions in the interactions and norms of the international relations. Although at first Russian aggression against Ukraine could have been regarded as an act of implementing strategic regional interests, it could have marked a structural change in the international system and a breakthrough of the new Cold War. Therefore, the main problem presented in the thesis is the non-systemic Russian behaviour during the 2014 annexation of Crimea which led to the belief that despite its partial integration after the Cold War and the following of status quo, Russia is possibly becoming a global status quo revisionist state and is playing the role of a dissatisfied state in the international community, thus seeking structural reforms in contemporary international decision-making process. Although the annexation of Crimea prompted a great variety of academic studies, scientists have offered very polarised opinions regarding its effects on the composition of the contemporary international community. The fact that the topic has not yet been analysed in the selected research aspects contributes to the uniqueness and topicality of this research in the field of international relations