For most of my 20 years on this earth, it has always been, unfortunately, that photos of poor children in a conflict zone are the backdrop of a news story everyday. So when I started seeing Ukrainian flags on shop windows, trees in parks and even graphic editing websites, I wondered what made the current Russo-Ukrainian war worthy of such attention compared to the many others in this century. I don’t need to go into depth about the devastating impact of the war on Ukrainian people as a consequence of this war. Neither do I need to dive into the economic impact of the war- we’ve all felt the pinch of inflation in part as a result of this crisis. This war is making life difficult for all parties involved, and those not involved. Perhaps for these practical reasons it is gaining so much attention. Not to mention that it is simply abhorrent for any nation to invade another and inflict unjustified amounts of pain and suffering on civilian populations.
Nonetheless, there is something amiss about Western nations, the UK and US in particular, pulling out all the stops to harshly punish Putin for invading and trying to take over another nation. Let me explain:
Ukraine’s relationship with the European Union
Ukraine’s relationship with Europe is complex to say the least. It has been trying to join NATO for the past 15 years and only became part of the EU in 2016. Many Ukrainians saw joining the EU as an opportunity to bring greater stability and economic growth to their country. Among other reasons, the refusal of President Yanukovich, a Russian backed president, to join the EU led to widespread protests in Ukraine, known as the Maidan Revolution in 2014 and eventually his fall from power. Following this Putin invaded and annexed the Crimea region in 2014. A region which was previously part of Ukraine, following the fall of the Soviet Union. Some contend that the current war is a continuation of Putin’s drive to incorporate Ukraine into Russia, following its break after the collapse of the USSR. Others attribute it to the attempts by Ukraiane to join NATO, which would, for Putin, mean that he has an enemy on his borders.
Global freezing- the continuation of the Cold War?
During the Cold War, in the 1950s and 1960s many African countries forged alliances with the Soviet Union as they supported their independence struggles. An example being Tanzania whose leader Julius Nyerere adopted the Ujamaa policy, based on traditional pre-colonial Tanzanian* collectivism. In 2019 Vladimir Putin hosted a number of African heads of states, pledging support from Russia for their development goals. In doing so, Putin positioned himself as an alternative to Western governments, donor agencies and grants that often sponsor development programs on the continent.
According to a New York Times writer : ‘Putin now appears to consider Africa an arena of his imperialist ambition, and hopes to lure the continent away from Western influence.’ He also wrote: ‘while the focus remains on Ukraine following Moscow’s invasion, Africa has, for some time, been a second front in Putin’s confrontation with the West and cannot be ignored.’
This rhetoric clearly shows that today, the West views Africa as a sphere of influence, not too disimilarly to their ancestors. In view of this it seems that the invasion of Ukraine is an extension of Putin's plan to expand Russian influence in the world which poses yet another threat to Western dominance in geopolitics.
Deja vu?
The invasion of Ukraine is also not too dissimilar in principle and practice to the rationale behind and the consequences of the Berlin Conference 1884. Cast your gaze back to the turn of the 20th century when the leaders of Britain, France and Germany sat around a table drinking beer and drunk on hubris apportioned Africa amongst themselves. Ignorant of the complex ethnic groups and arrangements that had been made by Africans for centuries, these states saw themselves as responsible for civilizing and bringing light to the dark continent. A mission that continued well into the 20th century destroying the fabric of societies, killed millions, made human beings zoo exhibitions and created a culture of dependency while building schools and hospitals and churches to compensate for all the damage. A mission that arguably persists till today, albeit in the more insidious form of aid. This point requires an entire article on its own, but for now I’d recommend reading ‘Dead Aid’ by Dambisa Moyo.
At least this is how I, a citizen of a former colony, see it.
One of the main reasons for the Western government’s outrage at Putin's invasion of Ukraine is that it undermines Ukraine's national sovereignty. Yet for some reason, a threat to a nation's sovereignty did not seem to be much of an issue for the British government when they relocated an entire population off the Chagos Islands in the name of ‘national security’, destroying the livelihoods and culture of the Chagossians, being forced to live in a foreign land, resettled with insufficient compensation. In the Bancoult [2008] case, the UK Supreme Court ruled that British and American national security, having a military base in Southern Africa, was a worthy enough justification of the use of the prerogative (a form of power that only the executive branch of government can exercise) to essentially takeover an entire island. Never mind that the use of the prerogative involved interference with the sovereignty of another state.
Putin decided to invade Ukraine, similarly, in the name of national security to in part to prevent his enemy having a base on his borders. The UK government evicted indigenous people from the Chagos Islands to make way for the US to install a military base there.
What would be the difference between the UK and Russia in these two scenarios?
Conclusion
It seems that the Russo-Ukrainian war, aside from having immense economic and political effects worldwide, represents another Russian offensive on the geopolitical standing of Western governments. Perhaps for these reasons the Russo-Ukrainian war has attracted so much attention. But what still puzzles me is what makes the British government in 2008 so difference to the Kremlin today, after all national sovereignty is of utmost importance.
Right?
* somewhat of an oxymoron because there was no Tanzania before colonization- but for lack of a shorter way of saying 'the collection of societies that became Tanzanian collectivism' I've used Tanzania.
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