One story that I have been following closely for the past year is the ongoing civil war in Ukraine. The war, which started with an “anti-terrorist” operation quickly spiraled out of control, as the Ukrainian Army and Volunteer Militias (many of whom openly display Nazi insignia) found themselves bogged down by Russian backed rebel fighters. The conflict, which has created 2 million refugees, and according to German Intelligence over 50,000 deaths, has been labelled by some as ethnic cleansing, and even genocide. Ethnic cleansing and genocide are terms that should not be used lightly, and the utter disregard for human rights shown by the Ukrainian government with their carpet shelling, and the use of white phosphorus on civilians does not help their case. The conflict has also destroyed whatever semblance of an economy Ukraine had, making the chance of the war spreading to other regions a very real possibility. Yet, this tragedy did not have to happen.
This tragedy was ultimately not brought because of a poor economy, though it played a role, nor of imperial meddling, though that played a role, but a failure to communicate. A failure to communicate not only between the US and Russian governments, but more importantly between the Ukrainian government, and the people in the eastern regions. This could have been prevented, had their been better communication, but sadly there wasn’t, and for the people living in Ukraine the result has been horrifying. Let’s us all hope the conflict does not spread anymore than it already has. The fate of the world depends on it.
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