Seven days ago marked the end of the years of tense world neutrality. Countries move to align themselves with either the Ukraine or Russia, in anticipation of the unknown every passing day brings. Coverage of the events happening in the European countries is delayed and oftentimes missing pieces because of the chaos the countries are in. The possibility of US involvement and where other worldy nations stance on what they plan to do is also unknown. Here is the breakdown of what is going on with the state of the world, from an 18-year-old who likes politics.

Putting this in current terms of celebrities and popular shows. Ukraine is Kim Kardashian, Russia is Kanye West, and the USA is Pete Davidson. If you do not know a whole lot about celebrities here’s another way to view it: Euphoria. Rue is Ukraine, Cassie is Russia, and Nate is the USA. If those still do not resonate then let’s go old-fashioned, Tom and Jerry. Jerry is Ukraine, Tom is Russia, and Spike is the USA.

These comparisons hopefully are able to put the conflict in a way that makes more sense than military terminology. The start of the conflict goes way deeper than just the past couple weeks of rising tensions. The origin of these invasions is Russia trying to reclaim what once was a part of the USSR.

Ukraine became a sovereign nation in August 1991, just 3 months before the USSR became modern Russia. Since the fall of the Soviet Union there has never been a state of neutrality between the two countries. In 2014 the Russo-Ukrainian war began because of Russia annexing a major city within Ukraine. The current invasion of the Ukraine can be chalked up as Russia’s attempt to end the eight year war. 

This conflict is, in a way, a toxic relationship. Ukraine divorced Russia because he/she was being overbearing. Russia is the crazy ex that stalks his former partner through the window. The invasion is Russia trying to break up Ukraine and her new partner the NACC (North Atlantic Cooperation Council). The NACC is like NATO’s best friend, for context. They both have the same purpose: to prevent another world war.

A question just about every American, and every country is asking is, will America get involved, and if so, when will we get involved? The main reason we have not declared war on Russia is that our declaration of war would likely spark the third world war. This idea of another full scale war seems unlikely, but countries have already started aligning themselves with one or the other.

China, North Korea, India, Syria, and Kazakhstan have all informally aligned and agreed to support Russia in this conflict. This erects no surprise seeing as Russia’s top five allies in 2017 according to USAToday, are those supporting the invading country now. Additionally, majority of the countries behind Russia are communist or dictatorship governments.

Ukraine’s allies are a bit more complicated. While NATO has not taken any action or aggressive moves towards Russia, they have indirectly sent in aid and an escape route for Ukrainian citizens and troops. Surrounding European countries such as Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and France have frozen all of Russia’s assets with them. Why assets? Why not go defend the Ukrainian border? If Russia has no money coming in or out, their ability to fund the invasion dies.

This conflict is deeper than an invasion. It is a war on democracy and a test of how strong NATO actually is. Ukraine is not fleeing, they are fighting, and while they fight a seemingly losing battle, other countries stand in awe. This is a war on the free people. Ukraine stands strong, unwavering, proud. Whether or not this marks the start of world war three or not is just a matter of time.