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Joint Force Quarterly

Abstract

This book review assesses Collisions: The Origins of the War in Ukraine and the New Global Instability by Michael Kimmage, a contemporary history that interprets the war in Ukraine as the product of overlapping geopolitical collisions among Russia, Ukraine, Europe, and the United States. The reviewer, Peter R. Carkhuff, highlights Kimmage’s central argument that the conflict emerged from Russia’s drive to control Ukraine, Ukraine’s strategic vulnerability, Western ambivalence toward Ukrainian sovereignty, and Vladimir Putin’s perception of American decline. The review emphasizes the book’s strength in contextualizing leadership decisionmaking through multiple perspectives and its use of historical, political, and personal sources to illuminate prewar dynamics. While noting limitations caused by the war’s recency and the resulting lack of detail in some areas, the review concludes that Collisions offers valuable insights for scholars, military professionals, and strategists. It is particularly useful for understanding deterrence, perception, and miscalculation in contemporary great-power competition.

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