Russia or the survival of the fittest.

by Santiago Sevilla

Nations are like other beasts. They survive if they better the fittest. Ukraine has not been a fit nation. It is divided and weak. Russia shows great fitness. It does not accept division, nor separation of its parts. Furthermore, Russia would like to incorporate other russians into the fold. The issue here is self determination as a principle. There are some important precedents. Such was the case with Britain and the Falkland Islands. When Argentina reclaimed its old possession of the islands, as part of its territory, England argued self determination by the islanders, and went to war with a Task Force that imposed sovereignty on the islands. The United States supported the English thesis and helped England to sink the Belgrano off the coast of Argentina by ascertaining its location.

So self determination by the inhabitants of the Falklands who wanted to be British, was the unblemished argument in the Law of Nations that justified war. The same principle applies in the case of Crimea, and would apply in the case of Gibraltar, or Catalonia, or Scotland. The Europeans and President Obama have disregarded this most obliging principle of self determination, and have invoked a secondary argument, which is the Constitution of Ukraine, and the untouchability of Nations territories. It would have been better to ask Ukraine and Russia to agree to an understanding. For Ukraine it is better to concentrate on its voluntary citizens instead of forcing Russians into submission. Europe was wrong, the United States was also wrong in its fiery and guttural reaction against Russia. The remains of the cold war animosity confused both, the US government, the press and all the media. Angela Merkel reacted wrongly as well, and in the mean time has stepped back, adjusting rhetoric to public opinion, opposed to bellicose sounding discourses of politicians all over Europe. Russia is not a country under communist ideology any more. It is not an enemy as wrongly painted by NATO. It is only a neighbour in need of balance and completion. There is no reason to believe that Russia wants war against Europe and the United States of America. So over-reaction to the Crimean integration into Russia was wrong. The Ukraine has to accept the survival of the fittest.