Historically and even today, Russia has much in
common with Ukraine—the United States, almost nothing.
For centuries and still
today, Russia and large parts of Ukraine have had much in common—a long
territorial border; a shared history; ethnic, linguistic, and other cultural
affinities; intimate personal relations; substantial economic trade; and more.
Even after the years of escalating conflict between Kiev and Moscow since 2014,
many Russians and Ukrainians still think of themselves in familial ways.
The United States has almost none of these commonalities
with Ukraine.
Which
is also to say that Ukraine is not “a vital US national interest,” as most
leaders of both parties, Republican and Democrat alike, and much of the US
media now declare. On the other hand, Ukraine is a vital Russian interest by
any geopolitical or simply human reckoning.
Why, then, is Washington so deeply involved
in Ukraine? (The proposed nearly $400 million in US military aid to Kiev would
mean, of course, even more intrusive involvement.) And why is Ukraine so deeply
involved in Washington, in a different way, that it has become a pretext for
attempts to impeach President Donald Trump?
The short but essential
answer is Washington’s decision, taken by President Bill Clinton in the 1990s,
to expand NATO eastward from Germany and eventually to Ukraine itself. Ever
since, both Democrats and Republicans have insisted that Ukraine is a “vital US
national interest.” Those of us who opposed that folly warned it would lead to
dangerous conflicts with Moscow, conceivably even war. Imagine
Washington’s reaction, we pointed out, if Russian military bases began to
appear on Canada’s or Mexico’s borders with America. We
were not wrong: An estimated 13,000 souls have already died in the
Ukrainian-Russian war in the Donbass and some 2 million people have been
displaced.
Things
are likely to get worse. Democrats are sharply criticizing Trump for
withholding large-scale military aid to Kiev (even though President
Obama, despite strong pressure, wisely did so). Ukraine’s recently
elected President Volodymyr Zelensky, having been drawn into the Washington
scandal, is no longer as free to negotiate peace with Russian leader Vladimir
Putin as he hoped and promised during his campaign. And candidates for the 2020
US Democratic presidential nomination, with the exception of Tulsi Gabbard, are
likely to compete for the role of Kiev’s biggest military booster. Here, as
generally in US-Russian relations, Democrats are becoming a war party.
Meanwhile,
as I have reported before, Russian leader Vladimir Putin continues to be
accused by hard-liners in Moscow of passivity in the face of “American
aggression in Ukraine.” Is it irony or tragedy that the
often-maligned Trump and Putin may stand between us and something much worse—between
a fragile Cold War peace and the war parties in their respective countries?
(Link to website
below for 2 audios on Ukraine corruption)
Grayzone Pushback YouTube
interview on Ukraine with Professor Cohen: https://youtu.be/bpASSqz1hGc
Reprinted with the author’s
permission.
Stephen
F. Cohen is a professor emeritus of Russian studies and politics at New York University
and Princeton University. His new book is War With Russia? From Putin & Ukraine to Trump &
Russiagate.
Copyright © 2019 The Nation, Stephen F. Cohen
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2019/11/stephen-f-cohen/why-are-we-in-ukraine/