Ethnic grievances and war

Last Thursday morning, Russian President Vladimir Putin shocked the world by actually ordering his fearsome tanks, fighter jets, gunboats and heavily-armed troops to cross into Ukraine.

Immediately the United States, European Union and Britain called Russia’s action “a criminal act against international law and against a sovereign country.” Fears of World War III surfaced across international media.

But will these western alliances use military force against Russia?

It doesn’t seem so now. Rather, western alliances prefer an economic war, freezing Russian overseas accounts, withdrawing all forms of assistance given to Russia. Stifle Russia economically, and hope it will work.

Putin, a former officer of the Russian spy agency the KGB, however, continues his “psychology of brinkmanship,” telling the world that “if there is any foreign interference,” Russia will react with something “never before experienced in history.” He said the Russian occupation is a “peace-keeping mission and an attempt towards the demilitarisation and denazification of Ukraine.” And this is at a time when Russia and China are raising serious questions about “western democracy.”

Putin claims that Ukraine is still Russian soil and for many years ago, was part of Russia, especially evidenced by those in eastern Ukraine speaking Russian and practising Russian culture. He wants Ukraine back. He is preaching the politics of historical grievances to help justify Russia’s invasion.

In fact, he has already recognised the “independence” of two of Ukraine’s Russian-speaking eastern regions – Luhansk and Donetsk. Russia’s army, using pro-communist Belarus and Crimea (annexed in 2014), now surrounds Ukraine.

Interestingly, Pakistan's prime minister Imran Khan paid an official visit to Mr Putin last week. China, with its own territorial challenges from Taiwan and Hong Kong, has so far not objected to Putin’s invasion. Our close-by countries Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua are standing by.

Given the globalised impact of Putin’s actions on banks, energy industries, international travel, food supplies, refugees, etc, it is important for us within Caricom to be fully informed about developments.

For this reason, I remain surprised and disappointed to see from my Flow cable service the sudden removal of Russian television network (RT), Chinese state-run cable channel (CGTN), British Sky News and even the US's Fox News. Restore them, please. Why fear “opposing” views?

Noting the dangers posed by reviving past grievances, former US president Barack Obama wondered how far back in history we should go to deal with present problems of ethnicity. To the surprise of many, he further declared “victimhood is now an industry.” Interestingly, he appeared to be a middle-of-the-road politician, widely celebrated by different races as a two-term president.

Putin’s intrusions, reportedly supported by Russia’s twin-chamber Federal Assembly, help revive memories of World Wars I and II, both happening in the midst of complex nationalistic and ethnic rivalries. The fatal shooting of Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife by an 18-year-old Serbian in 1914 resurrected ethnic grievances that helped trigger WWI (1914-18), with Austria-Hungary and Germany declaring war on Serbia. WWII (1939-45) began when Adolf Hitler’s Germany vengefully captured Austria, then invaded Poland and advocated Germans as “the superior race.”

This was one of his many attempts to retrieve Germanic land and national pride, which was wounded by the severe punishments inflicted on Germany by the US, Britain and France-dominated 1919 Treaty of Versailles. Hitler feverishly mobilised Germans for war by passionately recalling these historical grievances. He then solidified his doomsday mission by preaching hatred and envy against an ethnic group – Jews.

I briefly refer to these historical war-related circumstances to help illustrate how political ambitions of regional expansion, historical vengeance and nationalism in the midst of unsettled ethnic rivalries could lead to disastrous consequences, or what Putin now describes as consequences “never experienced before in history.”

Putin’s demanded a guarantee that Ukraine, given its borderline location to Russia, would not join NATO, as the US and EU prefer. He declared: one nation’s security should not severely affect the security of another country. He points to the US naval blockade in 1962 of Russian missile-loaded ships from entering Cuba, the 20-year US occupation of Afghanistan, etc.

Putin gave the impression that if his non-NATO demands were guaranteed, the threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine might not arise. However, the current invasion now creates, according to NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg, the “world’s darkest days since WWII.”