Let me recommend a particularly provocative and fascinating piece at the Guardian -- Timothy Garton Ash pulls the Ukraine lens back from Russia, the EU, and the U.S. to look at the responses globally. What he finds is -- for various national reasons -- remarkable sympathy for Putin among the powerhouse Asian economies of China and India, and Brics outfits like Brazil and Turkey. In that world, Ukraine looks quite different and the pleasure of seeing the Wests amour propre pushed out of joint outweighs the fine points of Ukrainian sovereignty. Check it out. Tom What the west faces here is the uncoiling of two giant springs. One, which has been extensively commented upon, is the coiled spring of Mother Russias resentment at the way her empire has shrunk over the past 25 years – all the way back from the heart of Germany to the heart of Kievan Rus. The other is the coiled spring of resentment at centuries of western colonial domination. This takes very different forms in different Brics countries and members of the G20. They certainly dont all have Chinas monolithic, relentless narrative of national humiliation since Britains opium wars. But one way or another, they do share a strong and prickly concern for their own sovereignty, a resistance to North Americans and Europeans telling them what is good for them, and a certain instinctive glee, or schadenfreude, at seeing Uncle Sam (not to mention little John Bull) being poked in the eye by that pugnacious Russian. Viva Putinismo! Obviously this is not the immediate issue in Ukraine, but it is another big vista opened up by the east European crisis. In this broader, geopolitical sense, take note: as we go deeper into the 21st century, there will be more Ukraines. theguardian/commentisfree/2014/apr/17/vladimir-putin-admirers-india-china-ukraine
Posted on: Sat, 19 Apr 2014 16:39:31 +0000
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