Nothing annoys me more than the way in which the war of Russia against Ukraine is described in the Western media. Here is one example:
Over the weekend, Congress passed the Ukraine Freedom Support Act of 2014, a bill which would impose stricter sanctions on key Russian sectors like weapons and energy, and which authorizes the President to provide lethal aid to Ukraine for the first time. . . President Obama so far appears to be holding back from signing the bill immediately, despite bipartisan pressure for him to put pen to paper. With the economic situation rapidly deteriorating in Russia, however, having the bill hanging over the Kremlin’s head, maximizing uncertainty and unease may not be the worst strategy.
Are you seeing the problem with this analysis? The journalist is discussing a bill called “the Ukraine Freedom Support Act of 2014.” Got it? Ukraine freedom support. But the analysis is all about how wonderful not signing the bill will be in the dealings with the Kremlin. How about Ukraine, though? The one whose freedom this bill is supposed to support? It’s not even mentioned in this analysis!
The idea that any of the pathetic “sanctions” introduced against Russia have had any effect is completely bizarre. The idea that the Kremlin is anything but overjoyed with news of this bill is even more bizarre. The fantasy of Putin cowering in “uncertainty and unease” is simply deluded.
It’s high-time to stop trying to impress Putin. The West has proven itself to be signally incapable of that. The only people who have managed to thwart Putin in any way recently are Ukrainians. Instead of pretending that they don’t exist, it would be much smarter to help them keep thwarting him.
The value of Ukraine Freedom Support Act is symbolic a lot more than anything else. Ukrainians need to hear that they matter to the West, that their struggle is understood and supported. They need at least a tiny gesture of goodwill in their direction. And while the American President is mumbling and fumbling, Ukrainians are dying for the Western values that they alone in the world seem to recall and cherish.
Clarissa's Blog 
When the Ukrainian revolution started this February, I was walking on the streets of a British city when suddenly I saw many yellow and lightblue balloons fastened to the lampposts and railings. I suddenly felt very happy that the British people care about an Eastern European country that much, however I was in a rush and didn’t have enough time to look at the flyers the activists gave to the pedestrians. A few hours later I came back on the same route as I wanted to talk to the people who organized this great action. I asked for a flyer from one of the activists, looked at it, and suddenly I became mortified. They advertised a furniture store whose colours were the same as those of the Ukrainian flag: yellow and lightblue. The guy began the typical marketing speech about the new “amazing offers” of the furniture store. He was very kind, but I was still completely shocked, as until then I was dead sure that the yellow and lightblue balloons only could have meant a support of the Ukrainian people. Since then I don’t have any vain illusion about how much Ukraine (or the Eastern European region) means to the West.
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This is a great story. It’s very symbolic of what we’re seeing in the West’s vision of Eastern Europe.
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Being Devil’s advocate – this is not a fantasy of an isolated derange pundit, essentially this means that the US (or at least some significant segment of the US establishment) is not interested in either Ukraine or freedom, but is using Ukraine as a pretext for another round of geopolitical chess with Russia. (The difference between me and a Putinist is in that I do not have allegiance to Russia and find understandable the West’s desire to weaken any adversary capable and admitting willingness to deal harm to the West. Living in the West with any other attitude would cause extreme cognitive dissonance and would be very psychologically unhealthy, I guess.) But now we are only one step away from what Russian propaganda was telling us all along – that the US treated Ukraine as a pawn even before and during the Maidan of 2013-2014…
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“Being Devil’s advocate – this is not a fantasy of an isolated derange pundit, essentially this means that the US (or at least some significant segment of the US establishment) is not interested in either Ukraine or freedom, but is using Ukraine as a pretext for another round of geopolitical chess with Russia. ”
– I quoted a blog that, in turn, quoted a tabloid. Where do you see the establishment? The establishment cares about neither Russia nor Ukraine. It would be fantastic if the American establishment finally started speaking with Russia. But I see no evidence.
“But now we are only one step away from what Russian propaganda was telling us all along – that the US treated Ukraine as a pawn even before and during the Maidan of 2013-2014”
– The US didn’t care about Ukraine then and doesn’t care about it now. The US also didn’t care about Russia then and doesn’t care about it now. I don’t know what needs to happen for the US to stop and notice the region. Just simply notice it.
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“find understandable the West’s desire to weaken any adversary capable and admitting willingness to deal harm to the West”
– Do you really believe that anybody in the West sees Russia as an adversary??? I have seen zero evidence of that. And I would love to see it, so I’m looking hard.
But what will really happen is that tomorrow Putin (or whomever is appointed in his stead) says, “Oopsie daisy, this was all one huge misunderstanding. We want to be a democracy once again.” And everybody will say, “Yippee!” and gleefully turn away. All Obama wants – and very visibly so – is for the Eastern European conflict just to go away. And I believe that this is an enormous mistake.
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—Oopsie daisy, this was all one huge misunderstanding. We want to be a democracy once again.
“We want to be a democracy” is a label that may mean all kinds of things. Putin is claiming Russia is democratic now… so what? Who is listening to that? The West will turn away when the real meaning of whatever Russia happens to say will be “we will not play civilization war with the West any more”. If the latter message gets somehow delivered and believed, then proclaiming Russia a “democracy” will not even be required. The West will be perfectly happy with any Bokassa running Russia as long as that is a pro-Western Bokassa. 🙂
—Do you really believe that anybody in the West sees Russia as an adversary??? I have seen zero evidence of that. And I would love to see it, so I’m looking hard.
CSIS is hiring Russian-speaking analysts…
Of course they treat Russia as an adversary in ways that are as unprofessional as for anything else (so no much need to worry for Putin).
But they do treat Russia as an adversary.
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“Putin is claiming Russia is democratic now… so what? Who is listening to that?”
– Everybody!!!! The world was nodding happily to the Russians’ stories of democracy in spite of the egregious voting fraud.
“But they do treat Russia as an adversary.”
– From your mouth into God’s ears, seriously. I would be a happy person if I could believe it. A colleague told me last week that he was shocked after the Berlin Wall fell to discover that people in the USSR were white. Since Americans discovered that the post-Soviets are white, they have gone weak in the knees towards them and can’t do anything to oppose them in any way.
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—Since Americans discovered that the post-Soviets are white, they have gone weak in the knees towards them and can’t do anything to oppose them in any way.
Putin could be much more successful if his position were less schizophrenic, if he would not simultaneously push for “we are part of the West, so it offends us that the West does not accept us as such” and “we are the alternative civilization, superior to the West”. He should have chosen the first option, and the West would be happy, and maybe even would let him have Ukraine…
I am actually wondering – is he a megalomaniac, or if there are some pragmatic considerations that make him push that “civilization war” agenda…
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“He should have chosen the first option, and the West would be happy, and maybe even would let him have Ukraine…”
– Exactly. But don’t worry, the West still will. All that is needed is the tiniest gesture of kindness (towards the West, not Ukraine, obviously) on his part.
“if there are some pragmatic considerations that make him push that “civilization war” agenda…”
– Of course, there are. It’s what people want. And I don’t only mean back in Russia. Last week, I met two more Leftie professors who are peeing their pants with delight over Putin.
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http://pauluskp.livejournal.com/591939.html
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Yay! Help has arrived! 🙂 🙂
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\\ A colleague told me last week that he was shocked after the Berlin Wall fell to discover that people in the USSR were white.
I am speechless. Has she imagined them to be Africans in Europe? Were there no photos, movies, something?
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There is 1 more race aside the white and the black. 🙂 The Russians are traditionally imagined as mongoloid.
As for photos and movies, even as late as 1998, my mother would freak out in the streets of Montreal because people didn’t look like anything she had ever seen before.
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How did she expect the Montrealers to look like?
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“How did she expect the Montrealers to look like?”
– Like the people she was used to seeing.
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A great number of Soviet citizens including my wife were not white. Also Eurasianism as an ideology is a real thing. The idea of Russia not being western has had a lot of strong support in Russia since the 1860s.
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No, they have to be dog-headed 🙂
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“Has she imagined them to be Africans in Europe?”
– It’s a he, by the way, just as I said. 🙂
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It’s a bit like patriarchy in a way. Between gentlemen. I know he’s beating his wife, but I’m waiting for the right moment to break it to him that I’m onto him. I don’t want to upset the relationship between us. Who else am I going to drink beer with otherwise?
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