Posted on 05/03/2014 2:46:48 PM PDT by kathsua
Russia should respond to the situation in the Ukraine by following the precedent set by the United States in a comparable situation. Russia should offer to purchase the Russian populated areas whose residents want to leave Ukraine much like the United States purchased California from Mexico.
In the 1840's people from the United States had settled in parts of Mexico, but were not happy with the Mexican government. U.S. citizens in the Texas region had openly revolted and gained independence from Mexico. People in California were also interested in leaving Mexico. The United States annexed Texas and a border dispute led to war between the United States and Mexico. The United States won the war but instead of simply taking other territory from Mexico forced Mexico to sell California and additional areas to the United States. The United States also assumed some debts that Mexico owed to U.S citizens.
The Russians in the eastern Ukraine don't want to be part of Ukraine any more than the U.S. citizens in California and Texas wanted to be part of Mexico. Russia should help them leave by offering to purchase the region from Ukraine once the people of Ukraine vote for a new government. Government officials chosen in an election have authority from the people to act. Officials who came to power as a result of mob action have no authority from the people to act.
Russia should also consider compensating Ukraine for the its loss of Crimea. The separation of Crimea from Ukraine was comparable to a divorce. Often one party to a divorce will compensate the other by paying alimony to the other/ Russia could undermine claims that it "stole" Crimea by paying alimony to Ukraine. Paying for something isn't stealing.
The mob overthrow of a president from eastern Ukraine and talk of eliminating Russian as an official language indicates that many Ukrainians don't want Russians in their country. The presences of racist elements in the anti-government mob indicates the overthrow may have been in part motivated by ethnic prejudice. Russians in Ukraine fear that failure to allow the Russian region to leave Ukraine could result in use of violence against them.
Failure to allow the Russian region to leave could lead to prolonged efforts against the Ukraine government. European ethnic conflicts [such as the Basque conflict in Spain and the conflict between Irish Catholics and English Protestants in Northern Ireland] can last for generations.
Americans tend to think of ethnic conflicts in terms of differences in skin color, but differences in culture can produce the same results as was the case in Adolf Hitler's efforts to exterminate the Jewish people.
During the collapse of the Soviet empire, the residents of Czechoslovakia recognized that they would have a better chance of success if they split into two countries. Ukrainians made a mistake by keeping the arbitrary political boundaries set by the old Soviet Union. The Soviet Union to a large extent was a Russian empire. Keeping Russian regions in Ukraine means Ukrainians are still subject to control by politicians chosen in part by Russians. Eliminating the Russian regions from Ukraine would make Ukrainians truly independent of Russia.
Obama is giving us a chance to see libertarianism in practice, we haven't had a chance to observe true libertarian foreign policy and national defense beliefs, since Jimmy Carter.
Perhaps we should sell cities like Detroit, Chicago, Baltimore to their citizens.
The areas in question have been historically Russian. They were transferred for administration to the Ukraine during the time of the USSR, but it was all one country at that time.
We have no national interest in that area. It may be a concern of the EU, and if there is something there worth spending money and lives on, let the money and lives be German, French, Italian, etc. for a change.
Considering all the money Ukraine already owes Russia seems that Ukraine has already done the selling.
Should be a lesson in that for the morons who want us to go deeper into debt to solve somebody else’s problem. Unfortunately globalism is apparently a leading cause of brain damage.
So you would be fine with China calling in its debt and demanding to annex the US as the price of a settlement?
The Warsaw Pact countries have a 50-year history of being Russian provinces in all but name. Should they be ceded to Russia as well?
LOL yeah that’s exactly what I said.
Moron.
If Russia followed the USA’s 19th century example they would invade and control half of Ukraine including Kiev. Then negotiate terms under threat of taking over the entire damned country. LOL They would not actually “pay” anything just forgive a large portion of debt.
“From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli”
Difference is no part of the U.S. has people clamoring to be annexed to China nor did China ever have an historic interest in any part of present day USA.
Not one oblast has a Russian majority. Not one oblast has a majority of the population that wants to leave Ukraine.
So what is this guy talking about?
Does he even know what he is talking about?
The Warsaw Pact countries were non-Russian peoples controlled by the USSR, much like Tibet is controlled by China.
The areas in question were Russian for hundreds of years, which is why they are ethically and linguistically Russian today. A transfer of administrative duties during the Soviet era doesn’t change that, nor does it make the situation analogous to Poland being controlled by the USSR.
Why not, we gave Maine to Somalia.
i thought it was Minnesota that went to Somalia.
Yep, Minneapolis.
The areas in question were Russian for hundreds of years, which is why they are ethically and linguistically Russian today.
You don’t want to play this game. Many areas of Russia itself were not majority ethnic Russian historically. I’ll buy you a clue. Putin won’t be transferring “administrative duties” to the locals in those areas.
I don’t need your clue. I make no argument that the territorial borders of Russia are inviolable nor I do claim that Putin would be willing to let,say, Chechnya go, even though Russia would be far better off without it. What I do say is that if a region that has been made subject to one governmental unit prefers to be subject to another, they should be allowed to switch. I am certainly not willing to be taxed or to see Americans killed for the purpose of keeping Slaviansk, for example, subject to the government in Kiev that was installed by a coup.
Fomenting a coup, which is what Obama and the EU did, is not “libertarian”. Libertarian foreign policy is generally non-interventionist.
Too bad so many posters can’t get past the ghosts of the Cold War so that they can see that you are right.
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