Ukraine Foreign Policy Pawn

Ukraine is the pawn in the chess game called ‘Cold War’ where the premium pieces - the king and queen - are U.S. or Russia, depending.

How can a war be cold? Because both countries have an understanding that they will not invade each other, that they will respect their respective backyards.

Before Ukraine, the U.S. had ‘hot’ wars in Iran, Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. Iran in particular has crude oil, which the U.S. regards as a national interest, because every aspect of life in America depends on it. It went to the extent of wrongly accusing Iran of having chemical weapons.

The U.S. and Russia are enemies because they are poles apart ideologically. The U.S. stands for let free enterprise reign: buying and selling farm produce, precious minerals, oil, health care and everything else for profit. Russia believes in communism, where the government controls the economy and ideas but provides basic health care and education.

This pull/push materialized after World War 2. The U.S. helped U.K. and its Allies defeat Hitler’s Germany. Russia occupied East Germany in 1945 and installed the communist way of life. West Germany went for a let money decide, stock market kind of economy, freedom of speech and personal life. This led to the historic Berlin Wall, which was torn down, on 9 November 1989.

Germany is one country again. It is no longer the problem. The treaty that ended the war gave Germany harsh punishment, that it should not make military hardware anymore. It invests all its energies and skills to making money. That’s why you drive a German car, cook with German pots and factories globally use German industrial equipment.

Historians say the Cold War ended at some stage, but Ukraine is proof that it is alive and well. Russia is invading Ukraine because it feels the U.S. is encroaching on its backyard, using Ukraine, the back door. The U.S. says it is defending democracy.

By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.