Russia's Dissolution Over Ukraine War? ... Ridiculous! (Komsomolskaya Pravda, Russia)
"In order to prevent such a breakup, according to one-time presidential
economic adviser Andrey Illarionov, Crimea should be returned to Ukraine - as
it is the 'rightful owner' of the peninsula. Mr. Illarionov recognizes a
right to self-determination, but only for the 'indigenous population,' which in
the case of Crimea he believes to be exclusively the Crimean Tatars. The rest -
Ukrainians, Russians, Greeks, Armenians, and Germans - have no rights and
should shut up. Ah - but don't the Greeks have Greece you say, while the
Crimean Tatars have no other homeland? Now we're getting to the heart of the matter.
The Native Americans in the USA, too, don't possess their homeland. Nor do the Australian
aboriginals. And then, of course, the state of Israel should not exist then. Does Illarionov understand the bombs he's
setting off? Or do his dreams of Russia's collapse obscure everything else?"
One-time presidential economic
adviser Andrey
Nikolayevich Illarionov has forecast a terrible end for Russia in a
masterpiece entitled When Russian citizens Will Want to Give Crimea Back
to Ukraine. He says that after the "aggression against Ukraine and the
occupation and annexation of Crimea the Kremlin's aggressive intentions will
not abate there are clear signs of a growing preparedness for a large-scale
confrontation with the rest of the world." As a result, Russia will be
torn apart.
But
matters won't end there: "Several parts of the current territory of Russia
were historically parts of neighboring states. In their time they were annexed
- and may be returned to those countries. For example, Pytalovskiy
Oblast could be returned to Latvia; the Kingiseppsky
District of Leningrad
Oblast to Estonia; the north Karelian Isthmus, Prionezhsky
District and Pechenga to Finland; Kaliningrad (aka/East Prussia)
to Germany; Smolensk
and Bryansk Oblasts
to Belarus; Belgorodsk, Kursk, Voronezhsk
and Rostovsk
Oblasts and Krasnodar Krai to Ukraine; the Omsk steppes to Kazakhstan; at
least 1.5 million square kilometers of Siberia and the Far East to China; and
the Kurile and Sakhalin Islands to Japan. Oil and gas reserves, a network of
long-distance pipelines and the banking system which has been the basis of
the government's aggressive economic policies could be given up to
international control."
[Editor's
Note: The plot of Ivan Vasilievich: Back to the Future revolves around time travel/identity switching. Two Soviet era people travel back to the time of Ivan the Terrible, while Ivan the Terrible goes forward in time to the Soviet era. One of the people who goes back in time pretends to be Ivan, and one of his actions is to give the Kemska region over the the Swedes - who have been trying to get it off the Russians. So he says, "Kemska? Take it!"]
In
order to prevent this scenario, according to Illarionov, Crimea should be
returned to Ukraine - as it is the "rightful owner" of the peninsula.
What did you say? Was it something about the right to self-determination of states?
Yes - Mr. Illarionov recognizes such a right, but only for the "indigenous
population," which in the case of Crimea he believes to be exclusively the
Crimean Tatars. The rest - Ukrainians, Russians, Greeks, Armenians, and Germans
- have no rights and should shut up.
The
fact is that Andrei Illarionov contradicts himself: one the one hand, only the owners
- Ukraine - can decide. On the other, the choice can only be made by the
Crimean Tatars. Never mind that the peninsula was and remains the Republic of
Crimea, where the constitution guarantees every citizen equal rights. Even the
definition of "indigenous peoples" - which Illarionov refers to - agrees
with this. As he himself wrote, these are "peoples who inhabited lands
before the formation of existing borders."
Whatever
benchmark you use, either the transfer of Crimea to the Ukrainian SSR or the declaration
of Ukrainian independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union - the indigenous
peoples would include Russians, Ukrainians and others. Even if we go back further
into history, then I am sorry, but the Greeks founded a city-state in Crimea
long before the Crimean Tatar tribes came along.
Ah
- but don't the Greeks have Greece you say, while the Crimean Tatars have no
other homeland? Now we're getting to the heart of the matter. The Native
Americans in the USA, too, don't possess their homeland. Nor do the Australian
aboriginals. Must we now suspend the voting rights of Spaniards in Catalonia? Or non-Scots in Scotland? And then, of course, the state of
Israel should not exist then, as the "exclusive right" to a voice,
according to Illarionov's logic, is possessed only by
the indigenous population, which in that case would be the Palestinian Arabs. Does
Illarionov understand the bombs he's setting off? Or do his dreams of Russia's
collapse obscure everything else?
Posted
By Worldmeets.US
As
for the disputed territories, many people in Poland, Germany or Ukraine could
cry for mercy from Andrey Nikolayevich. Virtually every country has territorial
acquisitions and losses that are "controversial." The Russian apocalypse
Illarionov describes would impress - if one believed that in the event of such
a conflict, our country would sit back and watch its territory be hacked to
pieces. That is rather unlikely. That means that claimants to parts of Russian
territory would likely have, at the very least, "difficulties" in
their own territories. All of this is well understood, and no one is interested
in starting another "hot" war over it.
Andrei
Illarionov is already seen as a reverse Cassandra figure. In 2001 he
announced the beginning of the Russian recession. Precisely the opposite
happened. Then in 2008 he assured us that despite the international economic
crisis, Russia had nothing to fear.
Economist
Illarionov's economic forecasts have not, as we can
see, come to pass. Unable to make political predictions, he instead resorts to
prophecy, shrouding his desires in an abstract pseudoscientific "fog."
Andrei Nikolaevich also seems to have "changed
professions" just like Ivan Vasilievich [of the previously mentioned film Back to the Future]. Andrey Illarionov's economic
forecasts have about as much of a chance of coming to pass as the prophecies of
the famous film. Or as much chance as the forecasts of Ukrainian experts, who
in 2013 were seriously discussing what to do with the millions of Russian guest
workers who would flood to a prosperous European Ukraine!
