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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhy the Ukraine Crisis Is the West’s Fault
But this account is wrong: the United States and its European allies share most of the responsibility for the crisis. The taproot of the trouble is NATO enlargement, the central element of a larger strategy to move Ukraine out of Russias orbit and integrate it into the West. At the same time, the EUs expansion eastward and the Wests backing of the pro-democracy movement in Ukraine -- beginning with the Orange Revolution in 2004 -- were critical elements, too. Since the mid-1990s, Russian leaders have adamantly opposed NATO enlargement, and in recent years, they have made it clear that they would not stand by while their strategically important neighbor turned into a Western bastion. For Putin, the illegal overthrow of Ukraines democratically elected and pro-Russian president -- which he rightly labeled a coup -- was the final straw. He responded by taking Crimea, a peninsula he feared would host a NATO naval base, and working to destabilize Ukraine until it abandoned its efforts to join the West.
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Washington may not like Moscows position, but it should understand the logic behind it. This is Geopolitics 101: great powers are always sensitive to potential threats near their home territory. After all, the United States does not tolerate distant great powers deploying military forces anywhere in the Western Hemisphere, much less on its borders. Imagine the outrage in Washington if China built an impressive military alliance and tried to include Canada and Mexico in it.
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There is a solution to the crisis in Ukraine, however -- although it would require the West to think about the country in a fundamentally new way. The United States and its allies should abandon their plan to westernize Ukraine and instead aim to make it a neutral buffer between NATO and Russia, akin to Austrias position during the Cold War. Western leaders should acknowledge that Ukraine matters so much to Putin that they cannot support an anti-Russian regime there. This would not mean that a future Ukrainian government would have to be pro-Russian or anti-NATO. On the contrary, the goal should be a sovereign Ukraine that falls in neither the Russian nor the Western camp.
MORE: http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/141769/john-j-mearsheimer/why-the-ukraine-crisis-is-the-wests-fault
LittleBlue
(10,362 posts)Justice
(7,188 posts)grahamhgreen
(15,741 posts)emsimon33
(3,128 posts)Few countries, if any, want to be a pawn of superpowers!
Cayenne
(480 posts)The Crimean's seemed to prefer Moscow over Kiev overwhelmingly.
NuclearDem
(16,184 posts)William769
(55,147 posts)But it seems now that the Soviet Union & Russia is. Same shit, different time.
Major Hogwash
(17,656 posts)Nyet, you say.
With impunity, no less!
Nyet, you say to the borscht.
But, I will bet dollars to donuts . . . you like vodka!!
Benton D Struckcheon
(2,347 posts)No need to write a big article when a single word will do.
Also, no one thought of Russia as a threat. This is entirely a result of Putin's chauvinist nationalism, and his revanchist actions. He'll get his wish, and then everyone will do whatever they can to avoid doing business with Russia. Except the Chinese, who will turn it into a colony.
grahamhgreen
(15,741 posts)Benton D Struckcheon
(2,347 posts)and recognize Ukraine's sovereignty.
grahamhgreen
(15,741 posts)Benton D Struckcheon
(2,347 posts)Ideal worlds and all that. Imperialism is as imperialism does.
grahamhgreen
(15,741 posts)Benton D Struckcheon
(2,347 posts)grahamhgreen
(15,741 posts)NuclearDem
(16,184 posts)grahamhgreen
(15,741 posts)IronGate
(2,186 posts)Russia and their lackey's need to stop the killing and Russia needs to withdraw it's combat troops.
Thinkingabout
(30,058 posts)It would like blaming vehicle accidents on AAA.
grahamhgreen
(15,741 posts)But s highly profitable
Benton D Struckcheon
(2,347 posts)grahamhgreen
(15,741 posts)mythology
(9,527 posts)Sure there's his policies on gay rights, the fact that his government has assassinated and imprisoned those who oppose him and his government has committed war crimes in Chechnya. But if it weren't for the west, he'd never have done any of that.
Given Putin's actions, it's no surprise that Ukraine would want to align with the west.
grahamhgreen
(15,741 posts)I don't think so....
Boom Sound 416
(4,185 posts)Are we talkin about the guy who president then prime minister and now president?
Hmmmm. I think it's him.
grahamhgreen
(15,741 posts)IronGate
(2,186 posts)not unless he has a death wish.
grahamhgreen
(15,741 posts)IronGate
(2,186 posts)and trigger a NATO response, that's something Putin wants to avoid.
nationalize the fed
(2,169 posts)A random survey shows that barely 1% can even find Ukraine on a map. Try it!
Are_grits_groceries
(17,111 posts)He said at one point earlier in his career that Ukraine should keep their nuclear weapons.
He also supported India's development of nuclear weapons. In addition he wanted Germany to have a nuclear arsenal.
He has had an interesting academic career. His is one view. It isn't the only one and for it to be trumpted as the sine que non about the Ukraine is one-sided to say the least.
This effort to paint Putin as a put upon leader who is only responding to events is naive. That very well is probably part of his reasoning. However, he is not some innocent leader only intent on protecting Russia.
grahamhgreen
(15,741 posts)enough to pay the rent, what with her student loan debt and all.
Are_grits_groceries
(17,111 posts)I don't believe we should be messing about in Ukraine, but neither should Putin to the level that he is. Since they share a border, I don't expect him to ignore their actions, but he is decidedly trying to force them to follow his wishes.
nilesobek
(1,423 posts)wars and matriculation, well then, intelligence analysts and the type will have to get real jobs. Now that's sarcasm!
grahamhgreen
(15,741 posts)this isn't just about putin. he can't be the only one of the russian PTB that consider the eastward expansion of nato a threat and unnecessary provocation
grahamhgreen
(15,741 posts)Duckhunter935
(16,974 posts)Russia is.
NATO is planning a defensive only anti-missile system as a possibility. Not in place other than Patriot missiles which are defensive only system.
grahamhgreen
(15,741 posts)..........
Russian 2S3 Akatsiya 152mm self-propelled artillery, capable of firing a 'ZBV3' (designated RFYAC-VNIITF) 1 kiloton nuclear artillery shell a distance of 17.4 km
Octafish
(55,745 posts)"Imagine the American outrage if China built an impressive military alliance and tried to include Canada and Mexico."
grahamhgreen
(15,741 posts)JEB
(4,748 posts)Thanks for posting the thoughtful article.
Nye Bevan
(25,406 posts)An innocent victim of Barack Obama's unprovoked aggression.