Russian-Ukrainian relations in the context of geopolitical power centers in the 21th century

This thesis is designed to analyze the outcomes on the Russian-Ukrainian relations of the power struggle of global and regional power centers, which have acquired a place in the global system with power projections they have developed, in order to fill the power gap that emerged in Ukrainian geopolitics in the post-Cold War era. Correspondingly, events which remarkably influence the Ukrainian geopolitics, such as the process that Ukraine have gone through so far after having proclaimed its independence with the disintegration of the Soviet Union in the early 90?s, and the Orange Revolution, can be regarded as its indicators. In particular, the struggle for hegemony, defined by the strategic targets for the region between the Russian Federation as a dominant regional power, and the USA as a global power, creates a significant risk map for Ukraine due to its geopolitical position. This argument is tested within the scope of the change considerably experienced in the Ukrainian geopolitics following the Orange Revolution. For that reason, grounded on the foreign policy strategies of global and regional power centers, it is attempted to explain comparatively the emerging developments in the Ukrainian geopolitics.