Since the surprise Capture of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and Russia’s active support of pro-Russian separatists in Eastern Ukraine, Ukraine has gone from relative obscurity to front-page news. The simmering Russian backed war in Eastern Ukraine, which began in 2014, catapulted to international infamy when in July 2014, Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 was shot down over Eastern Ukraine by pro-Russian separatists operating a Russian-made book surface-to-air missile system, killing all 298 passengers and crew.

Since then, the war in the east has cost 14,000 lives with no end in sight. Late last year, Russia mobilized 100,000 troops at the Ukrainian border, this action as well as bellicose language from the Russian President regarding NATO pressing up against Russia's border has many speculating that a Russian war against Ukraine could start in the first part of 2022.

So, as we are in the first part of the 2022, are we on the precipice of the first major European war since the collapse of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, and if so, what can we do to avoid it?

This Podcast is Produced by Michael Migali for Co-host David Olney, and John Bruni, Director of SAGE International Australia.

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