Media Do Not Just Mirror The Reality
The recent events in Ukraine showed that Vladimir Putin’s actions may not be predicted, thus being a threat of unwanted military situation. At the same time for having the lack of information or it being delusive, media try to investigate political controversy from various angles, particularly analyzing Russian president’s personality and his intentions.
The events “back in the fall of 2013”, as Lauren McLaughlin (McLauglin Cop.2014) puts it, led to the dire consequences described in both articles. The content based on the same background reality differs greatly in the papers discussed. It is the general outline of the military situation in Ukraine that we may find in the article “Russian Buildup Stokes Worries; Pentagon Alarmed as Troops Mass Near Ukraine Border” by Adam Entous (Entous Cop. 2014). While the analysis of Mr. Putin’s personality and his goals prevails in the article “Putin’s Challenge to the West” by Robert Gates (Gates Cop. 2014). That is to say, the possibility of war in Ukraine is described as the unacceptable violation of several international laws (Entous Cop. 2014) in the former article and as the consequence of one person’s caprice in the latter one.
What is more, both authors are concerned about Mr. Putin’s further actions. Similarly, they are not sure about any of his plans. However, while this concern is described in Entous’ article more formally, Gates’ paper is more of an opinion paper. Adam Entous mostly uses nouns in generalized meaning, as Russia, Moscow to refer to the Russian government: “Moscow is preparing for another major incursion” (Entous Cop. 2014). Thus the author makes all the officials responsible for the situation in Ukraine. In contrast, personal pronoun “he” and surname “Putin” is prevalent in Gates’ paper, making one person the reason of the possible war: “Mr.Putin aspires to restore Russia’s global power and influence and to bring the now-independent states that were once part of the Soviet Union back into Moscow’s orbit” (Gates Cop. 2014). These linguistic means help to determine the aim of the articles. In both cases it is the threat of uncertainty of Mr. Putin’s intentions. Though, Robert Gates already suggests the possible actions to take.
Judging by the articles discussed, we may not know whether Russia or Mr. Putin has any thought-out plan and the consequences it may lead to, still the violation of modern rights and laws cannot be permitted.
Works Cited
Entous, Adam. “Russian Buildup Stokes Worries; Pentagon Alarmed as Troops Mass near Ukraine Border”. Wall Street Journal, 28 Mar 2014. Web. 28 May 2015
Gates, Robert. “Putin’s Challenge To The West.” Wall Street Journal 2014: A. 15. Print.
McLaughlin, Lauren. “The Conflict in Ukraine: a Historical Perspective”. Harvard Summer School, 12 Jun 2014. Web. 12 Jun …
