PERSPECTIVES: Drawing the line (11/23/03)

PERSPECTIVES

by Andrew Fedynsky

Drawing the line

But for three miles of open water, Tuzla Island in the Kerch Strait would be within easy walking distance of the Russian mainland. In October, citing dire concerns about erosive wave action threatening coastal communities, Russia began building a dam from the Taman Peninsula to the island. One very big problem: Tuzla is Ukrainian territory and Russia has no legal basis for its encroachment.

Despite the rationalization that this is environmentally motivated, what's really going on is a brazen attempt on Russia's part to seize Ukraine's sovereign territory. Along with other ominous developments, it signals Moscow's turn toward aggressive nationalism, revival of a police state mentality and renewed aspirations for empire. The Tuzla crisis represents a potential turning point in history, which could determine Ukraine's future, Russia's, Poland's, the Baltic states', indeed all of Europe. That's why it's so important that a line be drawn. And appropriate that it be drawn in Ukraine, arguably the most valuable component in the Russian and Soviet empires and the place where the empire began with the Treaty of Pereiaslav in 1654.

In the century following, Russia systematically pared back Ukraine's sovereignty and rights. Generations of hetmans and peasant leaders fought back with wars and revolts, but eventually Ukraine succumbed to universal serfdom, denial of any political identity and a ban on the language itself. In 1918 Ukrainians and other peoples in the Russian Empire, declared their independence, only to be forced to join the Soviet Union - the "Evil Empire" as President Ronald Reagan so aptly described it. When independence came in 1991, it was nothing short of a liberation.

Ukraine's independence was a blessing not only for Ukrainians, but for Russians as well. In pursuit of empire, tyrants like Peter, Catherine II, Lenin, Stalin, Andropov and others denied their own people basic freedoms while casually sacrificing soldiers' lives, as if they were pieces on an imperial chessboard. Millions more died in the execution chambers of the Cheka-MVD-NKVD-KGB or ended up in the Gulag as inmates or jailers. When Russia was finally released from the logic of empire, it became free to choose democracy. With this, the way was cleared for Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, the Baltic states, etc. to become confident members of NATO, able to focus on broader alliance issues, instead of their eastern borders.

That's why it's so worrying that many Russians, including those in positions of authority, are openly nostalgic for the empire of old and speak of the "reunification" of Ukraine with Russia. And that's why the testing of the border at Tuzla is so dangerous. Seizure of even a sliver of territory would reignite Russia's centuries-old war with Ukraine. Given history, annexation of an insignificant island would signal Russia's intention to also annex Crimea, then Russian-speaking portions of Ukraine, etc. What a gloomy close to the Year of Russia in Ukraine and what an inauspicious harbinger for next year's anniversary of the Pereiaslav Treaty!

To his credit, President Leonid Kuchma sees what's going on and plainly says so: "some people in Russia have strong imperialist impulses ... [there are] neo-colonial feelings in their society, within elites and among their generals." Well aware of where he fits in with Ukrainian history, Mr. Kuchma waved a hetman's mace (bulava) at his second inauguration in 1999. He wasn't afraid to use it.

In response to the Tuzla crisis, Ukraine's Coast Guard boarded Russian ships, warplanes were scrambled, troops were deployed to the island and the border was marked with buoys and tridents. In the Rada, a broad coalition passed a resolution condemning Russia's provocative moves. Confronted with Ukrainian resolve, Russia backed down and suspended construction of the dam.

A line has been drawn, and that's good news for Ukraine and a good thing for America and our allies. Over several decades, trillions of dollars were spent to defeat the "Evil Empire." The last thing the world needs is for it to be reconstituted.

Which brings me to America's current policy toward Russia and Ukraine. From its earliest days, the Bush administration has been unusually solicitous of Russia, exchanging multiple visits with its leader, lavishing him with extravagant praise. Most recently, at a late-September meeting at Camp David, President George W. Bush extolled Vladimir Putin for pursing a vision for "a country at peace within its borders, with its neighbors, a country in which democracy and freedom and rule of law thrive."

What's astonishing is how every element in this statement is wildly at odds with reality. Instead of peace within its borders, Russia has been waging a cruel and ill-advised war with Chechnya. With its neighbors, Russia claims special privileges in what it calls the "near abroad" and interferes in the internal affairs of Georgia, Belarus, the countries of Central Asia and is now threatening Ukraine's sovereignty. Instead of democracy, we see a curtailment of press freedoms and crude interference in elections. Instead of the rule of law, there are selective arrests of businessmen.

As for Ukraine, President Bush has a long record of ignoring, even snubbing the country and its president. Now, according to informed sources, the White House is urging the U.S. Senate to block passage of a resolution commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Famine-Genocide. The problem? Russia is opposed. They don't like the word "genocide."

So far, the U.S. has little to show for its solicitousness toward Mr. Putin: Russia continues to help Iran develop a nuclear program and puts up roadblocks on American policies in the Middle East and elsewhere. It's high time, therefore, for the administration to see Vladimir Putin for what he is: an increasingly autocratic leader, surrounded by KGB-trained operatives, who is leading Russia in a direction that is dangerous for its citizens, for the United States and for the world.

History teaches that appeasing would-be dictators only whets their appetite. At Tuzla, President Kuchma has drawn the line on a resurgent Russian Empire. The Senate should draw a similar line on genocide. There are ominous things happening in Russia that the U.S. ignores at the risk of long-term damage to the political infrastructure of Europe and Central Asia. In this struggle, little things matter - whether they're a tiny island or a single, weighty word. It's time to draw the line.

Andrew Fedynsky's e-mail address is: fedynsky@stratos.net.

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