Unless you’ve been stuck in a cave for the past few months, you have probably heard about what’s going on in Crimea, Ukraine.
Essentially Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, decided to claim Crimea, Ukraine as Russian territory because there is a fairly important Russian naval base there. There are many questions being asked about this, for example, is this a legitimate invasion? Or, what will Putin do next?
I plan to give my opinion in a way that does not take a conservative, liberal, Republican, or Democratic side. So here are probably the questions asked the most frequently:
1. What Exactly Is Going On? I Don’t Understand The Politics, Can You Explain It To Me?
On February 23, 2014, the Sochi Winter Olympics ended. Not long after, Russia claimed Crimea as part of Russia and annexed it from the Ukraine. Putin claimed that the reason he took Crimea was because it is the home of Russia’s only warm-water naval base. The reason that there is a Russian port in the Ukraine is because when Russia was still the Soviet Union (USSR), Ukraine was part of Russia. After the USSR became Russia, Russia gave up land, but kept the military bases in those counties.
Before the Olympics there were already tensions rising between Russia and many European countries, especially England and France. There were also some tensions between Russia and the United States. The worst time to take Ukraine would be during the Sochi Olympics, since countries might boycott the Olympics, and the Olympics are a very big honor to have in your country. So, the perfect time to capture Ukraine would be right after the Olympics.
2. Is This A Real Invasion?
This seems to be asked as a lot by many people. My response would be that for whatever reason an invasion occurs, it is still an invasion. The Merriam Webster’s Dictionary definition of “invade” is “to enter (a place, such as a foreign country) in order to take control by military force.” While one could argue that the majority of people in Crimea do want Crimea to become a part of Russia, the majority of people in Ukraine do not want it to become part of Russia. This is like making the argument that the Confederate States should be a legal country.
3. What Should The United States And Its Allies Do About It?
This is possibly the hardest question to answer since you need to find the right balance between Russia not fighting back and convincing Russia to stop. A possible solution is to freeze Putin’s assets. This means that he will not be able to access any of his money or property anywhere but Russia. The only issue there is, what will he do in response to world leaders and citizens in general?
A different, more extreme option is to start a Second Cold War. Russia will eventually realize that they are outnumbered and overpowered with weapons and will give up Crimea. However, this is only a good idea if Russia takes more than Crimea, which most people do not want to have happen.
4. How Can The Average Citizen Help?
To be honest, there’s not too much that you can do. To support gay rights you can protest and to support the needy, you can volunteer at a soup kitchen or help out at a homeless shelter. However, the politics of what’s going on are already complicated enough. Also, pretty much everyone agrees that Crimea is rightfully Ukraine’s, except Vladimir Putin. So the only person who you could protest to would be Putin, but, why would he listen to you?
Many of us have tried writing to the the President before, but, that “special letter” you got back from them was really the same thing that everyone gets. One of the President’s assistants just pressed copy and then paste to send you that letter. So, if the president of your home country doesn’t care what you have to say, why would the president of a foreign country that the United States has a bad history with care what you have to say?
Really, the only thing that you can do is to be informed about what is going on. It’s everyone’s duty to know about current events like this, even if you can’t do anything about it.
