Crimea--Different Points of View

Today the United States and the countries of the European Union are claiming the moral high ground regarding the recent referendum of the Crimea to join with the Russian Federation. Secretary of State John Kerry and President Obama are just stomping their feet in a righteous rage over the blatant acquisition of a piece of Ukraine by that bare-chested bully, Vladimir Putin.  Some have said to give in to this is a veritable replay of the annexation by Hitler’s Germany of parts of Czechoslovakia. John McCain, whose bluster is unrivaled when he demands action, wants long-term military assistance given to Ukraine to resist Russia. Even the thoughtful Charles Krauthammer believes we should send weaponry to Ukraine to emphasize our resolve to support that government. I think we need to take a step back before we push this thing in a direction that could be devastating for the people of Ukraine.

It was this same pushing and prodding by the US and the EU that stirred up parts of the Ukrainian populace to want to join the EU, a move that anyone with the most basic knowledge of Russian politics knew would cause alarm bells to ring in Moscow. Even though President Obama promised “more flexibility” with Russia after his reelection, that statement was made with the understanding that Russia and the United States have different global interests—they operate to the betterment of their own countries, albeit Mr. Obama’s personal desire for the United States is always up for debate. It is not in Russia’s interest to have the EU knocking on the door of the Russian landmass.

From the Russian viewpoint the Crimea is Russian. Catherine the Great took Crimea from the Ottomans in 1783. She encouraged Russians, Ukrainians, Bulgarians, Armenians, and Germans to settle in the area and by 1863 these immigrants outnumbered the remaining Tartars and Russia had their warm-water ports.  By 1989, there were over 1.6 million Russians living in Crimea. When the USSR dissolved in 1991, there was an unsuccessful movement at that time to have Crimea return to Russia instead of remaining with Ukraine.  And before President Obama rants about the will of the Ukrainian government to disavow the Crimean referendum, President Yanukovych was a popularly elected president thrown from power by riots, much like Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi. For some reason Obama chose to back Morsi and refused to work with the Egyptian military leaders who seized that government.

We change our stance as it suits our perception. We perceive Russia as a greater threat than Egypt. It is just the point of view that we take on the issue. I will be the first to admit that Vladimir Putin is a thug and capable of anything to maintain his personal power in Russia. But western prodding pushed Ukraine into this corner and now we have no way to back them up. We need to stop pushing Putin’s buttons over Crimea, if Obama can even get Putin’s attention, before Ukraine itself is swallowed up.