Unbridled US expansion, reason for Russia's Ukraine aggression

 

ADUN SPEAKS | Russian aggression in Ukraine would not have taken place if the United States and its allies had not pursued a liberal enlargement policy.

If only they had considered the national and strategic interests of Russia.

A worldview based on realism rather than liberalism might have stopped Russian aggression.

With the end of the Cold War, the US and its allies believed in the logic of liberal expansion, the supremacy of the market forces and others.

This meant that the former Soviet republics became the target of incorporation into the EU and at some point in Nato.

In the earlier years after the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia was weak and unable to counter the US moves in eastern Europe.

But however, in the last two decades or so more with the ascension of Russian President Valdimir Putin, Western enlargement took on an ominous note.

In fact, a few State Department officials have warned the US that unlimited expansion both economically and militarily would destabilise Russia.

However, in Francis Fukuyama’s “end of ideology” phase, no US leader took note that liberalism, the spreading of Western liberal ideology, might pose a balance of power problems, particularly for Russia.

As the US and its allies subtly encroached on the areas of former Soviet control, alarm bells were raised in Russia.

The failure of the West to engage and reassure Russia about its enlargement plan was the primary cause of the present tensions.

Russia had repeatedly asked the US and its allies for treaties to assure its security.

However, such pleas fell on deaf ears of the Western leaders, including US presidents.

Ukraine might have gone independent in 1991, but the country was a sensitive spot for Russia.

Past invasions of Russia took place via Ukraine.

It was in the larger economic and military interest of Russia that Ukraine existed as a buffer zone between the West and Russia.

An idealistic liberal pursuit took no note of the national interest of Russia.

Since Russia was still suffering from the after-effects of the Soviet Union’s collapse, the West thought it was doing a favour by slowly moving into the countries that were incorporated with the Soviet federation.

Russia endangered

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US and its allies have poured in billions of dollars to resuscitate the economies of the former states of the Soviet Union.

It was not just an altruistic move but with the ultimate desire to weaken the last remaining bastion of Western opposition, Russia.

The straw that broke the camel’s back was the US-sponsored removal of the Ukrainian president in 2014.

In the immediate aftermath of this US-sponsored coup, tensions accelerated to the point of the Russian annexation of Crimea and the fomenting of opposition in the eastern part of Ukraine, an area with a Russian-ethnic population.

There was a stark incongruence in how the US and its allies viewed the world order quite differently from the Russian.

While the US and its allies sought an unlimited liberal expansion into states that were once under the former Soviet Union, the Russian view was based on realism—the West simply cannot expand into areas near the borders of Russia without understanding its security implications.

There was fear in Russia that the West’s enlargement process, both economically and militarily, might have seriously endangered Russia.

The Russians, having fought foreign invasions in the past, are not prepared for another invasion through Ukraine.

If only the West had thought about the genuine concerns of Russia when attempts were made to install pro-Western leaders in Ukraine.

Leaders in Ukraine, without considering the consequences of moving into the Western orbit, alienated the Russians.

If only they had maintained neutrality between the West and Russia.

The final attempt to seek membership in Nato was something not acceptable to Russians at all.

Russia can be blamed and condemned for invading Ukraine.

But at the same time, there is a need to understand the complex forces that brought about the invasion.

The unbridled social, economic and military expansion of the US and its allies were largely responsible for the present state of affairs.

Just imagine Russians putting up military bases in Cuba, how do you think the US and its allies would act.

Can we defend the sovereignty of Cuba?

Would realism supersede liberalism on this matter? - Mkini

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P RAMASAMY is Perai assemblyperson and Penang deputy chief minister II.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.