Latest news with #ÓBeacháin
RTÉ News
16-07-2025
- Business
- RTÉ News
Behind the Story: Russia, Ukraine and why Putin 'won't retreat'
Donnacha Ó Beacháin is Professor of Politics at Dublin City University, he has just returned from Ukraine, and joins Fran and David on Behind the Story to discuss his trip and his recently published book 'Unfinished Empire'. Professor Ó Beacháin debunks Russian President Vladimir Putin's justification for invading Ukraine in 2022. He explains why Russia has always had a desire to control and rule over neighbouring countries. Prof Ó Beacháin also believes Russia feels exposed as its larger geographic size does not match its economic output. "Russia today is not a great power; the Chinese economy is ten-times the size of Russia's, the American economy is 14-times the size of Russia's," he said. "Russia's economy is smaller than Italy's [and] we don't defer to Italy on many geopolitical things. "We sometimes, because of its sheer geographical size, lose sight of its economic minustatus," he added. Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump said Washington will arm Ukraine by having European nations purchase American weapons, then transfer them to Kyiv. President Trump has also threatened Russia with steep trading restrictions unless a peace deal with Ukraine is reached within 50 days. However, Prof Ó Beacháin told David and Fran that Mr Putin is unlikely to retreat at this stage. "Why would he retreat now? All the signs are in his favour," he said. "Donald Trump is very ambivalent, to put it mildly, about supporting Ukraine. "The European Union may have the intent or desire, but it doesn't have the means. "From his perspective, this is not the time to retreat – certainly as summer approaches," he added. Prof Ó Beacháin also believes "paranoia" from Mr Putin about internal or external threat to his leadership leaves unanswered questions. "We don't know what will replace Putin; there's no number two ore number three," he said. "If you allow a number two to develop, they will develop ambitions and that will, of course, jeopardise your own position," he added.
Irish Examiner
05-07-2025
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
Book review: Fresh, relevant, and concise
The time it takes to write a book, and the gap between completing a book and it being published, makes tackling contemporary events tricky. This is particularly so in the turbulent rollercoaster that is world politics and conflict. But Professor Donnacha Ó Beacháin has risen to the task in his new book, Unfinished Empire: Russian Imperialism in Ukraine and the Near Abroad. It is not just a study of contemporary politics. It has the added heft of history: charting the rise of Russian imperialism since the 15th century, Russian interests during communism, the post-Soviet era, and Russia's resurgence under Vladimir Putin. The author's landscape extends from Finland to the Baltics, focusing, naturally, on Ukraine, then onto the South Caucasus and the 'Stans' — the five Central Asian countries. Ó Beacháin, a professor of politics in DCU, complements academic knowledge with extensive personal experience of the so-called Russian 'Near Abroad', having lived and worked for 12 years in the region, conducting research in every post-Soviet state. There are other reasons to commend his book: it is refreshingly short at 218 pages — just 163 pages of the core book and the remainder a chronology, references, primary sources, and bibliography; and it is written in plain English. People move properties from an office building destroyed by a Russian strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, last month. Picture: Evgeniy Maloletka/ AP Ó Beacháin's central concern is Russian imperialism and — similar to other empires — the damage it causes to those at the receiving end. He covers the expansion of what was a small country to a sprawling land empire — from the reigns of Ivan 'The Terrible', Peter I — who Putin is a fan of — to Catherine II (The Great). The reader learns of the grim fate for many indigenous peoples on the way, such as the Circassians. Ó Beacháin writes: 'As many as 1.5m Circassians lived in the Caucasus in 1860 of whom almost half are estimated to have perished as a result of Russia's annihilationist campaign.' Under communism, state-induced famines claimed at least four million lives in Ukraine and a third of Kazakhstan's indigenous population. Two central chapters cover Putin's two wars in Ukraine — first, the annexation of Crimea and Donbas in 2014 and second, the full-scale invasion in 2022. Ó Beacháin authoritatively dispatches the various 'reasons' Putin cited for the invasion — denazification, demilitarisation/spread of Nato, and protection of ethnic Russians. Separate chapters follow on Belarus, Moldova, South Caucasus, and the Central Asian states. In his final chapter, Ó Beacháin sums up: Russia's war on Ukraine has a 'clear, genocidal intent'; Putin has created the 'very bogey' he most feared — a Russia-hating Ukraine bent on joining the EU and Nato and has pushed Finland and Sweden into joining Nato. The author is critical of the EU and the US under Biden in the level and speed of their military help to Ukraine, stating the 'war could have ended quickly' if Ukraine got what they asked for at the time. Ó Beacháin knows that Trump II is the unknown factor — a US President who sees Ukraine as a 'pawn in a much larger game' and how this has 'emboldened Putin'. The author is clear what has to happen: Europe needs a sustainable peace; accountability for war crimes is essential and, more fundamentally, 'Russian defeat is necessary'. Perhaps because of space reasons, he does not set out exactly how this might happen or what the risks of implementing this might be. But Ó Beacháin finds hope in the ultimate concern of Putin — to stay in power and how this matters more than success in Ukraine. Ó Beacháin believes that if Putin sees that continuing the war will weaken his reign, the faster the war will end. Read More Book review: Warnings on Putin ignored at our peril
