A game of nations

[unhappycamper]

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Opinion/Editorial/2014/Feb-21/247995-a-game-of-nations.ashx#axzz2uNrGXEoT

A game of nations
February 21, 2014 12:12 AM
The Daily Star

With dozens dead in the streets of Kiev and the violence showing no signs of abating, the Cold War hangover and inadequate response from the U.S., already evidenced in Syria, are on show yet again.

Ukraine’s crisis, while sparked by President Viktor Yanukovich’s decision not to sign a trade pact with the EU in December, has been the result of long-held leanings either toward Russia or the West. And each representative superpower has played into the unfolding drama as if it were a game of nations.

This situation is, of course, not a phenomenon unknown to the Middle East, where such Cold War behavior has never really disappeared, with the once-arch enemies increasingly vying for influence, markets and oil. Western officials and Russian mediators alike are meeting with key Ukrainian players, each hoping the crisis ends with different outcomes, just as in Syria.

And the U.S. response has so far been as unsatisfactory and meaningless as it was in the early days of Syria’s uprising. The White House said Thursday it was “outraged” by images of security forces firing on their own people, and those responsible would be held “accountable.”