Ukraine: the price of stability (EGMONT, Jan 7, 2022) 10 enero, 2022 por Felipe Sahagún | Sin comentarios Royal Institute for International Relations By Sven Biscop (7 January 2022) The first question in the ongoing crisis about Ukraine is not “What will Putin do?”, but “What do we want?”. We, that is the European Union and its Member States. That is strategy: knowing one’s own interests and objectives, and choosing on that basis where and how to react, and when to intervene proactively oneself. Our vital interest is clear: to safeguard our territory and way of life. Defending Ukraine’s territory and way of life is not a vital interest: our survival does not depend on it. But the continued existence of a democratic Ukraine as a buffer state between ourselves and Russia does help us to defend our vital interest – it is an instrumental interest. Ukraine is part of the neighbourhood that has to be stable for the EU itself to remain stable. Moreover, we have encouraged Ukraine and offered it a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) when the country, of its own volition, set out on a western path. We do have a moral obligation towards it, therefore. One cannot offer support yet withdraw it just when it is most necessary. Nevertheless, one does not go as far for an instrumental interest as for a vital interest – in this case, we will not go to war for it. …MORE Américains et Russes parlent de l’Europe… sans les Européens ! Lundi 10 janvier 2022 par Pierre Haski (France Inter) En 1989, peu après la chute du mur de Berlin, un porte parole soviétique avait fait un bon mot en parlant du sommet Bush-Gorbatchev qui allait se tenir à Malte pour enterrer la guerre froide : « From Yalta to Malta », ça rime en anglais ! Yalta, évidemment, c’est le Sommet Staline-Roosevelt-Churchill de février 1945, où est censé s’être redessinée la carte de l’Europe d’après-guerre. L’histoire est plus compliquée, mais la légende est tenace. Faudra-t-il compléter la formule avec la rencontre russo-américaine d’aujourd’hui à Genève, « Geneva » en anglais : la rime fonctionne, « From Yalta-to-Malta-to-Geneva »… Avec la crainte d’un retour à la case départ, celle du sort de l’Europe qui se déciderait sans elle. …MORE Related The future of Europe hinges on the coming talks between the West and Russia (W. Post editorial, Jan 8, 2022) Can the West Stop Russia From Invading Ukraine? Here’s What You Need to Know (NYTimes, Jan 10, 2022) Entradas relacionadas: Forecasting 2022 (Guardian, El Independiente, FT, ICG, Foreign Policy, CFR, The Economist…) The Objectives of War Ucrania en el punto de mira Corresponsales extranjeros en la guerra civil española
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