Looking at the Issue of Russia and
the Ukraine is one that can get very complicated very fast. There are many
sides to this complicated conflict, and the lines can get kind of blurry when
examining this. This conflict begins much further back than the coup in 2014,
and a lot of it has to do with Russia undermining the sovereignty of Ukraine.
Russia has constantly undermined Ukrainian
sovereignty, and has gone through channels to promote pro-Russian ideology. For example, there was a pro-western pro-EU government
in the Ukraine in 2013. But all of a sudden, the officials change their minds and
switched to wanting to become more attached to Russia, which leads to the Coup
and revolution. Then Russia invades Crimea, and holds an election where 97% of
the people agree that they want to be annexed by Russia. As we discussed in
class, no group of people in the world would be able to vote 97% in favor of
something, it just wouldn’t happen. Even the above linked article is a way for
Russia to undermine Ukrainian sovereignty.
I personally believe that this all
sets a very dangerous precedent in the international community. I do not think
that one group is responsible, whether it be the UN, the EU, or other groups I
find them all equally responsible. A UN member state, a potential EU member was
invaded by another UN member state and had land taken away. This “legitimate
vote” that Russia held in Crimea, clearly had some funky math. I think that by
allowing a member of the P-5 to walk all over another member state really hurts
the image of the UN. By not having a backbone and enforcing the law, they send
a very negative message to all nations. Basically what they are saying is that,
eh we will look the other way when another nation wrongfully invades another.
They did this with the US and they are doing it with Russia now. What I am
saying is that by not at least trying to stop this from happening and gaining
some legitimacy, they just roll over and let it happen.
Does the UN really have the ability to "enforce law"? The United Nations is not a body that can enforce legislation. It can suggest that nations make changes and that its member states create legislation in accordance with its international treaties. I think that the issue with Russia invading cannot merely be fixed by the UN enforcing law.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point that it one political organization is not solely responsible for allowing Russia to annex Crimea. I think a large portion of responsibility falls on the UN. In theory, Russia, a UN member, breached Chapter 7 of the Charter and threatened the peace and sovereignty of another UN member. My question to your post is who do you think deserves the most blame for no action taken against Russia? Also, do you think intergovernmental organizations like the EU or UN need a standing army to intervene in moments such as this?
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