D'Anieri explores the dynamics within Ukraine, between Ukraine and Russia, and between Russia and the West, that emerged with the collapse of the Soviet Union and eventually led to war in 2014. Proceeding chronologically, this book shows how Ukraine's separation from Russia in 1991, at the time called a 'civilized divorce', led to what many are now calling 'a new Cold War'. He argues that the conflict has worsened because of three underlying factors - the security dilemma, the impact of democratization on geopolitics, and the incompatible goals of a post-Cold War Europe. Rather than a peaceful situation that was squandered, D'Anieri argues that these were deep-seated pre-existing disagreements that could not be bridged, with concerning implications for the resolution of the Ukraine conflict. The book also shows how this war fits into broader patterns of contemporary international conflict and should therefore appeal to researchers working on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Russia's relations with the West, and conflict and geopolitics more generally.

达涅利探讨了乌克兰内部、乌克兰与俄罗斯之间以及俄罗斯与西方之间的动态，这些动态随着苏联的崩溃而出现，并最终导致了2014年的战争。本书按时间顺序进行，展示了乌克兰在1991年与俄罗斯分离，当时被称为 "文明的离婚"，如何导致了现在许多人所说的 "新冷战"。他认为，冲突的恶化是由于三个基本因素--安全困境、民主化对地缘政治的影响以及冷战后欧洲的不相容目标。达涅利认为，这些不是被浪费的和平局势，而是无法弥合的根深蒂固的预先存在的分歧，对解决乌克兰冲突有令人担忧的影响。该书还展示了这场战争如何融入当代国际冲突的更广泛模式，因此应该吸引研究俄乌冲突、俄罗斯与西方的关系以及更广泛的冲突和地缘政治的研究人员。