A Commentary On Ukraine

Ukraine Partition Debate Irresponsible and Dangerous -- Adrian Karatnycky, Atlantic Council

Every scholar, writer, or intellectual takes on serious obligations toward the reader when he or she engages in speculation or hypothesis. Among the most important of these obligations is to assess the probability of his proposition and, if the probability is remote, to be cognizant the consequences and uses of his exercise in speculative analysis.

On both these counts, Ethan Burger’s openDemocracy article “Could partition solve Ukraine’s problem” fails to meet to meet the test of responsible speculation.

Read more ....

My Comment: My family on my father's side are Russian-Ukrainians, so my input on the Ukraine has always been through this filter. But I believe that I can add more to the discussion, in that while my nationality is Russian, I grew up (and continue to live) in Quebec, Canada .... a province within Canada that is also split along language/cultural divisions.

In fact .... when I visit the Ukraine I am struck by the similarities between the two countries. I will not list all of these similarities and differences in this post, but Adrian Karatnycky makes a very good point in his article that also explains the situation in Quebec ....

.... “Why is it that when we Easterners and Westerners travel abroad to watch soccer we all cheer together and get along? And why is that here in Ukraine we always talk of our divisions. I’ll tell you why: here we are surrounded by politicians.” ....

Exactly my point .... the political class is invested in fermenting a crisis, and nationalism is an easy crisis to manufacture. Ukraine will probably continue to go through "rough times", but as long as the electorate can be successful in providing a balance in the political arena .... the Ukraine will overcome its problems just as Quebec over the years had to overcome a majority of its own problems and differences.