Presented below is an excerpt; download the entire article as a PDF via this link.
Protagonists locked in a power-struggle include USA-led NATO encircling Russia’s perimeters; as Russia masses troops at Ukraine’s border; Germany, the European Union, and Ukranian oligarchs have all put their oars in; even capitalists of floundering post-Brexit UK. What is behind events and what can we expect?
NB: A shorter version of this is at Berlin Left blog.
Introduction
The hijack of the socialist USSR in 1954 by Khruschev is well understood by Marxist-Leninists. [1] This article is restricted to the events in Ukraine following the then inevitable break up of the Soviet Union – after it had become a capitalist state.
For decades Ukraine has been a cauldron. After the 1991 USSR break-up, all players there share blame, nurturing prior distrust where the Eastern more ‘Russian’ side, faced a Western more ‘Polish’ side. Putin’s dictatorship supported its’ own ruthless supporters inside Ukraine. And the USA and its creature NATO with all European Union (EU) states encircle Russia using West Ukraine as a foil. Underlying today’s macabre dance is Ukraine’s strategic value (See Map below). It is the second-largest country in size (after Russia) in Europe, ranking eighth in population. Coal-rich, with a heavy industrial base from Soviet times, it has a valued technology literate, educated working class – once the major arms exporter to the USSR.
Ukraine is also the second-largest country in terms of size (after Russia) in Europe and ranks eighth in population. Rich in coal and a heavy industrial base from former Soviet times, it has a valued educated workforce literate in technology. It was a major arms exporter to the USSR. To understand the current Danse Macabre we must return to the break-up of the USSR in 1991.
Download the entire article as a PDF via this link.
[1] Bland WB; ‘Restoration of Capitalism in the USSR’; http://www.oneparty.co.uk/html/book/ussrmenu.html