Dynamics of the Ukraine War: Diplomatic Challenges and Geopolitical Uncertainties

Panagiota Manoli

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Published May 26, 2026

Panagiota Manoli

Abstract

This review examines Victor Jakupec's Dynamics of the Ukraine War: Diplomatic Challenges and Geopolitical Uncertainties (Springer, 2024), a 120-page realist account of the first twenty months of the Russo-Ukrainian war. The monograph focuses on political complexities considered central to conflict resolution, discussing military uncertainties, diplomatic failures, competing threat perceptions, western support strategies, the notion of Zeitenwende, the role of propaganda, and reconstruction dynamics. The review situates the book's conclusions within subsequent developments, particularly the shifts in US policy under the Trump administration.

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Issue

Vol. 2 No. 2 (2026): Black Sea and Eastern Mediterranean Review Vol. 2 (2)

Section

Book Review

Journal Content

Call for Papers for the 6th International Annual Conference co-organized by BSEMR, ILABSEM-Auth, School of Law-University of Nicosia and FES

Theme of the Conference

"The global (ex) "periphery" re-claiming its historical significance: Africa, South America and Eastern Mediterranean architecture under transformation"

(31 October/1 November 2026 - Thessaloniki)

The Black Sea and Eastern Mediterranean Review (BSEMR) and its constituent institutions, the Interdisciplinary Laboratory for Black Sea and Mediterranean Studies in Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (ILABSEM AUTh) and the School of Law in the University of Nicosia issue a call for abstracts for participation in an international conference. The conference is co-organized by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES).

This conference aims to explore the rise in international significance of three major international regions: Africa, South America and the Eastern Mediterranean. These regions increasingly occupy critical spaces of political, legal, economic, and socio-technological roles, through transformations and repositioning within the contemporary global order. Long framed as “peripheries” in dominant international narratives, these sets of countries and regions are, currently, increasingly reclaiming historical, strategic, and normative importance amid shifting alliances and reshuffling power structures, renewed geopolitical tensions, post- and neo-colonial dynamics, including rapid technological change.

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