Friday, March 7, 2014

Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials -- March 7, 2014



Russia And The West Are Both Being Played By Ukraine's Political Elites -- Emily Holland and Rebecca R. Friedman, Christian Science Monitor

Ukrainian political elites have repeatedly tried to fob off their failures onto Moscow and the West, while extorting maximal support from both. The West must make any cash handouts conditional on meeting protesters' demands for democratic reforms.

Ukraine is teetering on the brink of disaster, once again drawing the West and Russia into diplomatic conflict. But as pundits and policymakers debate the appropriate Western response to the showdown in Crimea – and raise the specter of a renewed cold war – they would do well to recognize the responsibility of the Ukrainian elite for the present East-West showdown.

Ever since the fall of the Soviet Union, Ukrainian politicians have played the West and Moscow against each other to extort maximal support from both sides. Consequently, a stable Ukraine is unlikely to emerge from the recent protests unless domestic political development takes precedence over geopolitical brinkmanship. Indeed, it would be a serious mistake to allow saber rattling to drown out the message of Ukraine’s EuroMaidan protesters whose public demonstrations sparked a revolution and set off the current turmoil between the West and Moscow.

Read more ....

Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials

Watching Putin in Moscow: What Russians Think of the Intervention in Ukraine -- Daniel Treisman, Foreign Affairs

Ukraine and the West—A Tale of Two Lifelines -- Timothy R. Homan, The Fiscal Times

London’s Laundry Business With Russia -- Ben Judah, New York Times

Russia Is Gazprom: If Europe wants leverage with Russia, it has to drill for natural gas. -- Robert Bryce, NRO

The Best Historical Analogy for Crimea Doesn't Involve Nazis For precedent, look to Cyprus instead of Poland -- David Klion, New Republic

Ukraine: Is This How the War on Terror Ends? -- Peter Beinart, The Atlantic

How Iran’s rulers see Obama -- Mark Cunningham, New York Post

Why President Obama stopped calling Turkish leader Erdogan -- Scott Peterson, Christian Science Monitor

Asia's Trilateral Trade Talks -- New York Times editorial

Scotland’s big referendum winners -- Tom Gallagher, The Commentator

What Makes Greece Special? -- Daniel Gros, Project Syndicate

After a year without Chávez, is Venezuela unraveling? -- Carl Meacham, Special to CNN

As the U.S. retreats, what will fill the vacuum? -- Michael Gerson, Washington Post

Why the NSA undermines national security -- Eileen Donahoe, Reuters

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