There’s a lot of hype about Russia invading Ukraine and even scare stories from David Icke and others about the start of World War III. Let’s keep things in perspective shall we?
For a start Russia hasn’t invaded anywhere. There was a referendum in Crimea, which contains a Russian naval base and which was part of Russia till 1954. The referendum voted to rejoin the Russian federation following a fascist coup in Kiev.
Other regions in the Eastern Ukraine with large Russian speaking populations also wish for closer ties with Russia following the fascist coup in Kiev.
However Russian troops have not so far crossed the border, and even if they did to protect the local Russian population, would it really be the start of World War III?
Let’s look at recent history. When the Soviet Union existed the coloquial name used in the West was ‘Russia’ meaning all 15 Soviet republics, including Ukraine and the Baltic States.
Even when the Soviet Union invaded Hungary in 1956, Czechoslovakia in 1968 and Afghanistan in 1980, it was not the start of World War III.
USA, on the other hand, has invaded many countries in the past few decades, and World War III hasn’t started.
There is a crisis in Ukraine, it needs to be resolved. There is a grave danger of civil war. This happened in the former Yugoslavia, but again it didn’t lead to World War III.
Let’s not exaggerate a serious situation. A federal solution within the Ukraine which would guarantee the rights of all ethnic groups would be the best solution, but at the moment there is no democratic government in Ukraine, and a strong suspicion that the crisis has been manufactured to divert attention from things going on elsewhere, such as Syria.
On past experience I expect the Ukraine crisis to be solved one way or another with out involving a clash between USA and Russia. However the expansion of NATO ever Eastwards into what was formerly the Soviet sphere of influence and even what was the Soviet Union itself has raised tensions. It is a great pity that NATO was not disbanded along with the Warsaw Pact in the 1989-1991 period.
We do not need military blocs like this. They threaten countries like Russia, which should have been offered a Western hand of friendship when the USSR collapsed. Why has it been left out in the cold and threatened with NATO expansion?
As for Ukraine, partition is not inevitable. A democratic election followed by a Constitution which protects the rights of all ethnic groups would solve the present crisis.