World Affairs: Why Ukraine’s success is pivotal
People pay their respects in honor of the “Heavenly Hundred” on Independence Square in Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb. 20, 2015 (AP Photo)
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Putin wants Ukraine to fail. But he will fail if Ukraine succeeds
At a conference in Kyiv last May of world-class intellectuals that was convened Timothy Snyder and Leon Wieseltier, the Swedish foreign minister, Carl Bildt, said that Ukraine was “the epicenter of the global struggle for democracy.” It still is.
The goal of that meeting was to rally Western political, economic, and military support for Ukraine’s fight to become a democratic European country. But here we are, almost a year later, and despite the readiness of the Ukrainian people to sacrifice and die for European and democratic values, economic assistance has been inadequate, military aid is minimal, sanctions have had less effect on the Russian economy than the drop in oil prices, and political support has been at best ambivalent. For all intents and purposes, Ukraine has been abandoned by a confused, fearful, and self-absorbed West.
We are all familiar with the various rationalizations that are used to justify this Western paralysis. Some say that Ukraine is part of Russia’s sphere of influence, even though that geopolitical idea is inconsistent with contemporary norms of international law and human rights. Some accept Vladimir Putin’s view that Russian actions in Ukraine are an understandable reaction to NATO enlargement and the alleged humiliation of Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Many say that there is no military solution to the conflict, but they never explain how a political solution is possible without a military balance.
Many oppose providing Ukraine with defensive military aid because they fear that Russia would just up the ante, and that the West would never be able to match Russian escalation. Such an attitude is an admission of weakness, and it also fails to appreciate the impact on the global order of perceived Western impotence in Ukraine. Full story
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