The West seems to have forgotten there are several precedents for a solution in Ukraine.
When North Ireland was torn apart by sectarian religious violence the solution eventually became obvious -. separate the two, by barbed wire if necessary.
When Spain was being hit by sectarian language differences, in Basque and Catalonia, again the answer became obvious – give both of them autonomy.
When Czechoslovakia was also split by political and language differences, the answer was to divide the country into two. The Czech Republic and Slovakia now coexist happily side by side.
In short, if two peoples cannot coexist in one united nation, then let or encourage them to divorce.
And Ukraine? From the beginning it was an artificial creation, with an industrialised Russian-speaking East tacked onto an agricultural base. After the Soviet break up in 1991 several unsuccessful attempts were made through national elections to create a united nation.
But from the start it was obvious the pro-Russia East of the country would find it hard to coexist with the increasingly nationalistic West and pro-Europe Centre (even though many there spoke Russian).
Civil war broke out, which led to the first two attempts for the ‘Spanish’ solution – promises by the Ukraine central government, France, Germany and Russia to guarantee autonomy to the two (but not all) of the main pro-Russian regions, Donetsk and Lugansk – the so-called Minsk solution .
But that promise was soon broken by a Ukraine government increasingly controlled by radical nationalist forces – Azov Brigade, Right Sector etc.
And it was also soon forgotten by its amnesiacal, Western supporters, the US and UK especially, obsessed by anti-Russian feelings.
So the civil war continued through to today, greatly aided by those amnesiacal Western supporters.
The BBC, which in a 2015 broadcast told us how out-of-control radical nationalists were keen to dump a ‘weak,’ compromising President Zelensky (Gabriel Gatehouse), told us recently how the brave nationalists had joined government forces to defeat the Russian enemy and that talk of their being radical was wrong. (Aitkins)
Maybe it’s time to consider another solution. Someone should remind the Russians about Minsk, before it is too late.
Gregory Clark was the first postwar Australian diplomat trained in Chinese, with postings to Hong Kong, Moscow and the UN before retiring in protest against the Vietnam War. After PhD studies at the ANU he became Japan correspondent for The Australian. A spell in Canberra’s Prime Ministers department led to professorships at Tokyo’s Sophia University and presidency of Tama University, before becoming co-founder of the very successful English language Akita Kokusai Daigaku. He has now retired to Latin America (Peru) and Kiwi fruit growing in Boso peninsular south of Tokyo.
His works include ‘In Fear of China’ (1969) and several books in Japan on education and foreign policy.
He used to speak Chinese and Russian with fluency. He now speaks Japanese and Spanish.
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