The USA's containment policy against Russia: The case of Ukraine conflict

The containment policy is accepted as a key element of American foreign policy against the Soviet Union throughout the Cold War. This study argues that the containment policy continued after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and it is still maintained today against the Russian Federation by the USA. This research remarks that Ukraine has been the focal point of the containment policy since 2013. This study argues that the USA's containment policy entered a new phase in February, 2022 which it names this phase as "aggressive containment". This research examined the containment policy in the Cold War and its evolution in the post-Cold War period. In the main discussion part; this study analyzed the main motivations behind containing Russia through Ukraine, the instruments of containment and the consequences of this policy. This study unravels the core motivations behind the containment policy as weakening Russia, triggering a regime change in Russia and maintaining American global hegemony. This research classified the instruments of containing Russia through Ukraine as political, military, economic and non-conventional instruments. It found out that the USA's containment policy triggered a new cold war alongside causing serious implications for Russia, Ukraine, Europe and the USA itself. This research made contributions to the literature such as examining the Ukraine Conflict through the containment policy by making a difference from the other studies, approaching the containment policy in a holistic manner by analyzing the motivations, instruments and consequences of the policy alongside providing a fresh perspective to the Ukraine Conflict through examining recent sources.