- Joined
- Mar 5, 2014
- Messages
- 4,974
- Reaction score
- 1,047
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Undisclosed
Ariel Cohen, an influential US foreign policy advisor noted the following back in 2001, long before the overthrow of Yanukovich and the Russian annexation of Crimea.
Was the promotion of Ukrainian democracy by the US merely a pretext used to thwart the rise of the concept of Russian Eurasianism?
Russia's elites are preoccupied with advancing "Eurasianism," which sees Russia as the "ultimate World-Island state" apart from, and hostile to, the maritime and commercial Euro-Atlantic world. Russian analysts such as Yu. V. Tikhonravov argue that the nation holds a special place in the Eastern Hemisphere as a counterbalance to the "globalist" U.S.-led hegemony; their works are now part of the college curriculum approved by the Ministry of Higher Education.13 Because the West is so often portrayed as materialistic and corrupt, many Eurasianists advocate closer cooperation with China, the Arab world, and Iran while espousing anti-Turkic rhetoric.
The re-absorption of Ukraine into Russia fold would bring about a new, quasi-imperial and undemocratic Great Russia.
It is in U.S. interests to support Ukraine's independence, territorial integrity, democracy, economic reforms based on the rule of law, and sustainable pro-Western orientation.
To achieve this, the new Bush Administration should:
*Recognize the strategic importance of Ukraine, its continuous pro-Western orientation, as well as the threats to its independence. The Administration should utilize economic and political tools to support Ukrainian sovereignty and prevent its falling into the Russian orbit.
These tools include "traditional" democracy assistance through the National Endowment for Democracy, the International Republican Institute, the National Democratic Institute and International Foundation for Electoral Systems
Was the promotion of Ukrainian democracy by the US merely a pretext used to thwart the rise of the concept of Russian Eurasianism?
Last edited: