Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Ukraine: why the West is to blame for the crisis

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Ukraine: why the West is to blame for the crisis

Click here to access a review of a book entitled Frontline Ukraine: Crisis in the Borderlands by Richard Sakwa posted in CounterFire (Britain).

We all know about of the fog of war, but the current coverage and commentary on the crisis in Ukraine arguably takes wartime disinformation to new levels. Richard Sakwa's new book is a rare and precious exception. It is clear and measured and carefully researched and it shows that the story we are told in the West about events inside Ukraine is deeply flawed. More generally, it exposes the idea that Russia is the aggressor and the West the protector of Ukraine's democratic will as a travesty of the truth. In short, Sakwa's analysis is diametrically opposed to what passes for an explanation of the Ukraine crisis in the mainstream.