The Western
media has been euphoric about the decision of the Ukrainian Supreme Court to
invalidate the results of the second round of Ukraine’s
presidential elections and order a new run-off vote between Viktor Yushchenko and Viktor Yanukovich.
This is being touted as a victory for democracy and the will of the Ukrainian
people. Nothing could be further from the truth. Rather, it is a victory for
the U.S. and
the European Union (EU) and one more step towards establishing their control
over the Ukrainian government and the wealth of the Ukrainian nation.
The re-vote
scheduled for December 26 will do nothing to defuse the crisis which has been
created in Ukraine
by the foreign imperialists – the U.S.,
EU and Russia.
If Yanukovich wins again there will be cries of fraud
by Yushchenko and his Western imperialist backers,
regardless of how cleanly the election is run. The “Orange Revolution”,
organized and financed by American and European finance capitalists and
intelligence agencies, will continue until the government is brought down. This
was the strategy used in Yugoslavia
to bring down the Milosevic government and in Georgia
to bring down the Shevardnadze government. Even
before the new election, Yushchenko’s Western
imperialist supporters are talking about applying the same “shock therapy” to Ukraine
that they used to rob and destroy so many other eastern European countries.
If Yushchenko wins and proceeds with his plans for Ukraine
to join NATO, the governors of Eastern Ukraine have
promised to move towards autonomy or secession. Since Eastern
Ukraine contains most of the country’s industry, mineral wealth
and oil, such a move would almost certainly lead to civil war. As in Yugoslavia , the U.S.
and EU will support those seeking to bring Ukraine
under the domination of Western imperialism, while Russia
will support those who wish to remain under Russian domination.
However, unlike Yugoslavia
which was peripheral to Russian interests, Ukraine
is a crucial part of the new Russian empire being constructed by Vladimir Putin. It is Russia’s
largest trading partner and a major source of raw materials for Russian
industry. There is also a large population of Russians in Ukraine,
especially in the eastern areas, much of which is intermarried with the
Ukrainian population. The relationship between Russia
and Ukraine is,
therefore, closer even than the relationship between the U.S.
and Canada.
Losing Ukraine
would be an enormous blow to Russia’s
prestige, in addition to being a huge economic blow. There is little doubt that
Russia will put
up a determined fight to prevent that from happening.
Ukraine
is a pawn in a geopolitical chess game between the U.S.,
EU and Russia
and the prize is not just Ukraine
itself, but control of Europe. The loss of Ukraine
would weaken Russia’s
imperial ambitions and make it vulnerable to attack from Western
Europe. It would force Russia
to seek an alliance either with the U.S.
or EU in order to protect itself and advance its interests. The history of Europe
since the time of Napoleon indicates that no imperialist power can control all
of Europe unless it has a military alliance with Russia.
The stakes in Ukraine
are, therefore, very high and whatever the outcome it is bound to further
exacerbate the inter-imperialist contradictions and the danger of a much
broader conflict.