US victory in Ukraine, Pyrrhic

The following post was written by Steve Hayes on the Thoughts.com website.  It is presented here as a valid and thoughtful point of view of America, Ukraine, and Russia. 

May 30, 2014bystevehayes13

The US backed coup in the Ukraine is a Pyrrhic victory. Instead of gaining control over the country, the US has installed a regime that, not only has deeply repugnant attitudes, but is seen by many Ukrainians as completely illegitimate. Crimea has already succeeded to the Russian Federation. Areas of the east have held referendum and declared themselves independent republics. And the coup government are engaged in killing protesters and bystanders. This wasn't the Ukraine Nuland et al expected.

Meanwhile, Russia and China have moved closer together. The signing of the energy deal between the two countries is symbolic of the shift to the east of the world economy. The crisis in the Ukraine is simply the final straw in US double-dealing, which has pushed Russia and China into an alliance. Back in 1990 the US promised the Soviet Union that it would not move NATO forces east in return for the Soviet Union removing military from East Germany. It was not long before President Clinton reneged on that deal. NATO forces have kept pushing Russia's borders. The thought that NATO missiles might soon be located in the Ukraine as well forces Putin to seek allies in asia.

Russia is not only selling energy to China, it is selling arms. These trade relations between China and Russia also have the potential to undermine the status of the US dollar as the world reserve currency, something that is essential for the US if it is to continue to live beyond its means. The US provoked crisis in the Ukraine has had the unintended effect of cementing an alliance that significantly changes the geopolitical landscape.

My only two cents is that Russia is no angel in this Ukraine fiasco.  In some ways, it is Oligarchs in the U.S. fighting with the Oligarchs in Russia, but that is another blog. RRO