Don't Kid Yourself about Ukraine

G. Murphy Donovan: Whatever you believe or say about Putin or Russia, you also have to ask: compared to what? ■ And don’t kid yourself about Ukraine. The issue there is not right or wrong, legitimacy or illegitimacy. Neither side has a sovereignty argument. And the dispute isn’t about democracy or freedom either. The real danger in east Europe is nuclear chicken - a dangerous game with a short fuse. Ukraine has 15 active nuclear reactors. Ukraine dispute has no moral high ground either. US foreign policy folly has done much to undermine personal sovereignty, national sovereignty, and the good name of democracy worldwide. America has been slicing and dicing polities in East Europe, Africa, the Arab world, and elsewhere for decades pretending that the default setting is democracy. Distinctions between legitimate and illegitimate are now arbitrary, in the end, a function of power. And the first democratic election is often the last.

Steve Weissman: Meet the Americans Who Put Together the Coup in Kiev ■ The CIA, NSA, and Pentagon likely provided their specialized services, while some of the private contractors exhibited shadowy skill sets. But if McGovern knows the score, as he should, diplomats ran the campaign to destabilize Ukraine and did the hands-on dirty work. Harder for some people to grasp, Ambassador Pyatt and his team did not create the foreign policy, which was – and is – only minimally about overthrowing Ukraine's duly elected government to "promote democracy." Ever since Bill Clinton sat in the Oval Office, Washington and its European allies have worked openly and covertly to extend NATO to the Russian border and Black Sea Fleet, provoking a badly wounded Russian bear. They have also worked to bring Ukraine and its Eastern European neighbors into the neoliberal economy of the West, isolating the Russians rather than trying to bring them into the fold. Except for sporadic resets, anti-Russian has become the new anti-Soviet, and "strategic containment" has been the wonky word for encircling Russia with our military and economic power.

Alex Lantier: US, EU press Russia to recognize Ukraine’s putschist regime ■ Amid US President Barack Obama’s tour of Europe, US and European Union (EU) officials pressed Moscow to recognize the Western-backed Ukrainian regime that emerged from last month’s fascist-led putsch in Kiev. Speaking with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte amid a nuclear summit at The Hague, Obama briefly addressed the Ukraine crisis. Denouncing the March 16 referendum in which Crimea seceded from Ukraine and was annexed to Russia, he said: “We are also concerned about further encroachment by Russia into Ukraine. So what I announced and what the European Council announced was that we were consulting and putting in place the framework, the architecture for additional sanctions, additional costs, should Russia take the next step.” He added, “There is another path available to Russia.