Among the many questions in the current debate about the crisis in Ukraine, that of ethnicity, language and attitude toward Russia has drawn great heat but cast very little light on the actual situation. Simplistic arguments thrown about in the acrimonious debate are usually misleading and sometimes flat-out wrong. They confuse what is a complex and often ambiguous situation by attributing to it implications and contrasts that are far from clear.
Ukraine: Ethnicity, Language, and Attitude Toward Russia
Posted in In the World, Musings and Polemics
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Obama’s Confrontation over Ukraine Has Increased Putin’s Support at Home
I received the following comments on yesterday’s essay from a Russian-speaking American now resident in Moscow. They include some important points about Russian opinion and on the impact of the Ukrainian events on politics in Russia itself. Each of the points deserves a separate essay, but I wish to share them without delay. (I have added some emphasis by italics or boldface here and there.)
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1) In Moscow even anti-Putin liberals seem to think that the US/EU has pushed too far in Ukraine. Continue reading
Posted in In the World, Musings and Polemics, Uncategorized
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Ukraine: The Price of Internal Division
With all of the reports coming out of Ukraine, Moscow, Washington, and European capitals, the mutual accusations, the knee-jerk speculation, and—not least—the hysterical language of some observers, bordering on the apocalyptic, it is difficult to keep in mind the long-term implications of what is happening. Nevertheless, I believe that nobody can understand the likely outcomes of what is happening unless they bear in mind the historical, geographic, political and psychological factors at play in these dramatic events. The view of most of the media, whether Russian or Western, seems to be that one side or the other is going to “win” or “lose” Ukraine.
Posted in In the World, Musings and Polemics
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Ukraine and the United States
Implications of Victoria Nuland’s Candid Remark
As a friend and admirer of both Russian and Ukrainian peoples and culture, I have been following the dramatic events in Kyiv since November with both sympathy for the Ukrainian protesters and concern that none of the offers from the outside will actually help them solve their most fundamental long-term problems. However, I took some limited comfort from reports that Washington would defer to and support the European Union in its efforts to guide Ukraine to a better future.
Assistant Secretary Nuland’s comments to Ambassador Pyatt reveal that this may not be the case. Continue reading
Posted in In the World, Musings and Polemics
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Dmirti Trenin on Snowden and U.S.-Russia Relations
Dmitri Trenin has posted some wise comments on the Carnegie Moscow Center Eurasia Outlook. I believe he has described some of the basic reasons for the current friction between the U.S. and Russia, friction that serves the interests of neither country. Here is what he wrote (with emphasis which I added):
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Iran: Time to Give Diplomacy a New Try
The recent effort in the House of Representatives to intensify sanctions on Iran is the wrong policy at the wrong time. American Congressmen should keep their attention on negotiating a budget that the president will sign and that will support revival of the economy and job creation. This excursion into foreign policy is not merely a distraction; it lays pavement on a road that leads unmistakably to further violence and war in the Middle East.
Snowden in Russia
So the Russian government has finally—and predictably—granted Edward Snowden “temporary asylum” for a year. Does that worry you? It shouldn’t—unless you are a Russian. Continue reading
Posted in In the World, Uncategorized
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Stay Out of Syria!
This is the title of an article by David Bromwich to appear in the June 20 issue of The New York Review of Books. It is the best summary I have seen of the reasons President Obama should resist pressure to involve the U.S. more directly in the fighting now engulfing Syria.
U.S.-Russian Juvenilia
A student at the University of Virginia asked my opinion of the Magnitsky Act and the Russian counter actions. I gave a reply in the discussion of Reagan and Gorbachev but will repeat what I wrote and elaborate on it here.
The action of the U.S. Congress in passing the Magnitsky Act and the reaction of Russian politicians that followed it remind me of school kids exchanging imprecations in the schoolyard. Continue reading
Did We Really Win in Iraq?
The general opinion seems to be, “Yes. We removed a vicious dictator!” However, it is difficult to argue that removing that dictator, who was no threat to the United States, was worth the cost of lives and treasure when the result is an Iraq run by friends of Iran. Continue reading