The present dire state of affairs in the
Ukraine with Russian intervention into the Crimea region reminds me very much
of a strikingly similar situation of what happened in Cyprus. There in 1974, an
outside power, Turkey intervened with thousands of troops, tanks and trucks to
takeover part of the island. Turkey invaded the country and seized part of its
territory to set up a client regime, the so-called “independent” Turkish state
of North Cyprus. That was 40 years ago and despite many UN Resolutions calling
for withdrawal, the northern part of Cyprus remains illegally occupied by the
Turkish army. The UN, the USA, Britain and other countries protested the
invasion but did nothing.
A united, non-aligned and independent Cyprus was never favoured by the USA or Britain; rather they wanted the country split between Turkey and Greece, both members of NATO. This almost happened, except that the Cypriot people defeated a Greek army organized coup against the Cyprus government. The Cypriot National Guard were however no match for the might of the larger and well-armed Turkish forces.
A united, non-aligned and independent Cyprus was never favoured by the USA or Britain; rather they wanted the country split between Turkey and Greece, both members of NATO. This almost happened, except that the Cypriot people defeated a Greek army organized coup against the Cyprus government. The Cypriot National Guard were however no match for the might of the larger and well-armed Turkish forces.
It looks like Ukraine can count on the same
sort of firm commitments against Russia’s invasion and annexation of Crimea
from the international community. But Russia’s a big power and just like the
USA, Britain, France, China and other major military/industrial powers that
have intervened, invaded and occupied other countries many times before, it
will almost certainly ignore international law, protests and any resolutions
against its occupation and the installation of a compliant pro-Russian regime and
get away with it.
The reality is we live in a world where the
policies of powerful countries and their national, political and economic interests
dictate the rules, not concepts of justice and moral or legal principles. A
world where hypocrisy reigns and the most important and strongest countries impose
their will on smaller nations. Or install and prop up repressive, crony regimes
to protect their interests. The ruling elites are adept at bending and breaking
up little nations and peoples who stand in their way, by dividing and
partitioning them, as well as Ukraine and Cyprus, among many others Palestine,
Ireland and Kurdistan come to mind.
In the process these imperial powers sometimes fight each other over other countries, their territories and resources. In the new world order, the same old procedures are maintained, the powerful rule over the weak and the desires of small nations, ordinary people and their communities for independence and freedom are irrelevant in the greedy and bullying machinations of this dominant imperialist commercial/political system. Those with the most power make the rules and they change them when it suits their national or economic interests.
Excellent article and the good reason to set up an organisation that advocates for small nations like Ireland, Tibet, Palestine, Cyprus,Ukraine and Euskal Herria
ReplyDeleteCan't believe this guy. Is he seriously suggesting Russia's intervention in the Crimea results from imperialist ambition? More disinformation being carried from this writer uncritically. The situation in Ukraine results from direct NATO efforts to destabilise the country which have resulted in a bloodless coup with fascists at the helm. Anyone expecting Russia and indeed the people of Crimea to play by their rules is in cloud cuckoo land. The aggression is all one-sided and as in Syria emanates from London, Paris and Washington
ReplyDeleteAgree with Sean Bres but also whilst understanding Russia's motives, the Soviet Union was as imperialist in its day as GB/USA. Good read.
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