GEOGRAPHY AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO DECISION- MAKING IN FOREIGN POLICY (RUSSIA AND UKRAINE MODEL)
Authors: Mutar Mahdi AL- SULTANI Dr. Hanaa 
Published: March 2024

Geography is the science that studies all natural and human phenomena in one place Geography studies the natural factors that affected the land inhabited by man, Describes human populations in terms of their relationship to the environment Political geography is the study of political units and their problems from the point of view of geography, The survey studies the relief and climate areas that affect the conditions of states and the phenomena in them. As for the political decision, it is very measure that the state takes to prevent any interference in the affairs of its society, and the political decision is formulated in a thoughtful way to solve a specific problem or crisis that passes in the country The process of making and implementing decisions goes through multiple stages, starting with the preparatory stage, identifying the variables related to the problem to be studied,then choosing the goal and drawing the strategy (identifying alternatives),then comes the decision-making stage, i.e. translating the decision into practical reality through actions, activities and work programs, Responsibility for the decision-making process is borne by a group of official and non-official bodies, the official bodies the constitution,then the legislative and executive authorities As for the unofficial bodies, they include political parties,pressure groups, and public opinion, for political decisions to be correct, they must serve the public interest,be built on scientific foundation, and take in to account the objective circumstances..objective circumstances. Ukraine experienced a state of internal crises after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, as crises became represented by the dissolution of parliament and re-elections,which are frequent and accelerating events, As the international Monetary Fund provided aid to reform the economic conditions of Ukraine after the transitional period it passed through,Ukraine became the coveted country and an open field for occupation by powerful countries. This is due to the weakness of Ukrainian politics. Ukraine distinguished location, which made it control the center of land and sea transportation between Asia and Europe, Russia decided that it was difficult to leave Ukraine to the west so Russia intervened militarily under the transfer from the Russian parliament on 28\2\2014 to protect Russian minorities and maintain influence in the city of Sevastopol, which is the last base in Crimea, The motive of the attack was to protect the region from the interference of other countries, to realize the dream of Russian to get on ports in the warm waters of the Indian Ocean, and to save world trade routes where Russia's ships have been frozen for months in the Arctic annually. Russia made the decision to attack Ukraine, and the first thing it started was the bombing of the Donbas region, which is located in eastern Ukraine, which is characterized by its mineral wealth and the presence of coal mines, and thus Russia worked to create a state of paralysis in the airports located in eastern and northern Ukraine