Tag: Ukraine

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Foreign Policies military invasion Russia

Russia Could Lose Membership in G8 Soon

WASHINGTON — After Russia’s military incursion into Ukraine, the G8 might become the G7 again.

Russia is set to host the next summit of the Group of Eight — the (mostly) western economic powers of the U.S., UK, France, Germany, Canada, Italy, Japan and Russia — in Sochi in June, and the U.S. has broken off its participation in planning meetings in protest of Russian forces’ presence in Crimea, where they have reportedly surrounded military bases.

About 6,000 Russian forces have “operational control” of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, a senior U.S. official told reporters.

After a U.S.-led push, all members but Russia have announced they will boycott planning meetings for the Sochi summit.

In a joint statement disseminated by the White House on Sunday, the leaders of the U.S., UK, France, Germany, Canada, Italy, Japan all pledged “to suspend our participation in activities associated with the preparation of the scheduled G-8 Summit in Sochi in June, until the environment comes back where the G8 is able to have meaningful discussion.” They also “condemn[ed] the Russian Federation’s clear violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.”

U.S. officials offered not-so-veiled threats that the G8 could kick Russia out altogether.

The incursion “puts at question Russia’s capacity to be within the G8,” Secretary of State John Kerry told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on “This Week” Sunday morning.

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Foreign Policies Politics Russia

President Obama Warns Putin – Stay Out of Ukraine

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama warned Russia on Friday that military intervention in Ukraine would lead to “costs,” as tension with old foe President Vladimir Putin rose in a Cold War-style crisis.

“We are now deeply concerned by reports of military movements taken by the Russian Federation inside of Ukraine,” he told reporters.

Obama and European leaders would consider skipping a G8 summit this summer in the Russian city of Sochi if Moscow intervenes militarily in Ukraine, a senior U.S. official said.

“The United States will stand with the international community in affirming that there will be costs for any military intervention in Ukraine,” Obama said in the White House briefing room.

Facing yet another confrontation with Putin after butting heads with him over Syria, Obama said any violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity would be “deeply destabilizing.”

Obama did not spell out what he meant by Russian military intervention.

Russia has a huge naval base in Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula and says it has the right to move troops in Ukraine under an agreement between the two former Soviet neighbors.

U.S. officials said they saw indications of Russian troop movements into Crimea but that their numbers and intentions were unclear.

The crisis has presented Obama with a difficult challenge days after pro-Western protesters prompted Ukraine’s pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovich to flee to Russia.

Armed men took control of two airports in the Crimea region in what the new Ukrainian leadership described as an invasion by Moscow’s forces, and Yanukovich surfaced in Russia a week after he fled Kiev.

Ukraine fell into political crisis last year when Yanukovich spurned a broad trade deal with the European Union and accepted a $15 billion Russian bailout that is now in question.

A U.S. response to any Russian intervention in Ukraine could include avoiding deeper trade and commerce ties that Moscow is seeking, the senior U.S. official said.

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Democracy Egypt Foreign Policies Syria United States

Where Democracy Lives

If 2011 will go down in history as a terrible year economically, it will also be known as a turning point year for participatory and representative democracy in many countries throughout the world. True people power, spurred on by technology, second-to-second communications, and defiance of imposing police/military power proved more resilient than even the craftiest dictators. The movements that succeeded in overthrowing one-party, one person or one-ideology governments were not always smooth, and in many cases there is far more work to be done in order for the revolutions to hold onto their gains, but the people who have changed governments are now living in an altered world.

Consider the promise of democracy (the United States still needs to work on some of these):

  • Where democracy lives, citizens do not fear the state.
  • Where democracy lives, the press is freer, but must be more subservient to the truth than ever before.
  • Where democracy lives, the military belongs to the people.
  • Where democracy lives, women, ethnic and religious minorities, and people of all sexual orientations have full civil rights.
  • Where democracy lives, economic and educational opportunities are available to all levels of society.
  • Where democracy lives, the political process is messier, more susceptible to special interests and harder to corral, but power rests with the people.
  • Where democracy lives, justice systems must restore or establish the rule of law, not the rule of the open palm.

As for the countries that are under the most serious political pressure from their citizens,

Democracy now lives in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya

It’s knocking on the door in Syria.

It’s at a turning point in Russia, Hungary, Iraq and Ukraine

This will not be easy, and it’s not clear if the citizens of these countries will eventually taste the fruits of new-found freedom, or if the benefits of democracy will touch their lives. But they are well on their way towards a more productive, politically freer future than they were 12 months ago. The United States has a responsibility to help nurture these democratic movements, even if we aren’t supportive of the groups that are elected under their new political realities.

My hope is that over the next 12 months, more people in the United States and the world over will become involved in their country’s political process from every band of the political spectrum. It’s essential that we have vibrant debate and a full airing of the issues that face us if we are to progress and solve our problems.

So in addition to losing weight, resolve to do one thing that will make the country and the world a better place for all of us. Register to vote. Join an organization. Contact your representative and establish a working relationship with them on an issue. Start a social media site to highlight a concern you have. Be part of the solution.

And join me daily on facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives

Happy New Year!

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