The Ukraine crisis of 2014 saw Russian resentment and revanchism vis-à-vis the West collide with Europe's inability to safeguard what it had achieved with its soft power. The Ukraine crisis made it clear that European power had declined to the extent that the continent was no longer able to protect its interests. Most important, however, was the fact that due to the crisis in Ukraine, European fault-lines resurfaced, cooperation faltered and security and prosperity were eroded. As a result, the order that had been established with the Charter of Paris for a New Europe, signed by Russia, the United States and the European countries, appeared to come to an end. In this charter, which was solemnly signed by the heads of state and government leaders of the OSCE member states in November 1990, all European countries and North America committed themselves to an undivided Europe; to desist from using military force in territorial disputes, but to settle differences peacefully; to develop confidence-building measures and mechanisms for peaceful dispute settlement; and to respect countries’ economic and political choices. With this charter the signatories bid farewell to the Cold War, and a new, undivided Europe was established. The Ukraine crisis is so fundamental in nature because almost every one of the agreements in the charter has been broken by Russia.

One ray of hope was that despite the fact that the crisis in Ukraine was reminiscent of a classical struggle for spheres of influence, there were no vital interests at stake for the United States and its European allies. There was also no treaty commitment to oblige them to intervene militarily. For this reason, government leaders argued from the outset that the conflict would not escalate into a military confrontation. President Obama emphasized that a military solution had been ruled out. From the perspective of coercive diplomacy, this was a striking view; after all, explicitly ruling out the military option meant that Russia could not plausibly be put under pressure, confirming Putin's conviction that the West had become weaker and that he could thus do what he liked.