Lemon Kush
12-22-2013, 11:08 AM
The main goal of Ukraine’s association with the European Union is not improving the common people’s well-being but rather pursuing the geopolitical mission of weakening Russia. Brzezinski normally never mentions the fate of Ukraine itself; he only sees it as an outpost of the West.
On still other occasions, my central theme has been that Ukraine's future lies within a larger Europe and a larger trans-Atlantic community, and that it is to them that Ukraine should deliberately gravitate
Some of you may recall that the moment Ukraine became independent, I emphasized repeatedly and publicly that Ukraine's independence transforms the geopolitical map of Europe in a most significant way. That was a theme that I felt was important for Americans to understand. On other occasions, I have stressed that Ukraine's independence signifies the end of the imperial era in Russian history, and this, too, is consequential not only for Russia's neighbors but for Russia itself.
The Ukrainians should be very deliberate in defining themselves as Central Europeans, for that is essential to the consolidation of a truly outstanding national self-consciousness.
Significant, too, is the better attitude of Ukraine towards the whole concept of the future of Europe and its relationship with the United States. Ukraine accepts the notion that Europe should enlarge; it accepts the notion that the trans-Atlantic alliance should enlarge; and that this is a major factor of global stability. Ukraine has not been engaged in providing active assistance to countries whose policies are visibly directed against the United States, be they Iraq, or Serbia, or, at least on the level of joint declarations, the People's Republic of China. Ukraine has welcomed the enlargement both of the European Community and of NATO as elements of a stable international order which consolidates stability and security on the Eurasian mainland, which creates binding and lasting bonds between the United States and Europe. That is important to the future; it is vital to the United States. It is in this context also that Ukrainian forces have engaged in joint maneuvers with NATO, some of which have been held on Ukrainian soil.
But it seems to me that if Russia going to be eventually a member of the European Union and/or of NATO, there's a minor geographical problem on the way - there's something in-between. And what about that which is in between, and particularly, Ukraine? I think we ought to be very clear that in our view of the Europe that's more secure, and whole, and free, and of the European-American alliance that embraces a Europe that is whole and free, that in our vision of the future, Ukraine is part of it. I think that is essential. And I think, frankly, that is more likely than to produce objective conditions that encourage the Russians to seek a similar relationship. Whereas ambiguity on that score has rather negative effects on the nostalgia that still preys on the imaginations of many members of the current Kremlin elite.
Come what may, the events in Ukraine are historically irreversible and geopolitically transformatory. Sooner rather than later, Ukraine will be truly a part of democratic Europe; later rather than sooner, Russia will follow unless it isolates itself and becomes a semi-stagnant imperialistic relic
http://www.ukrweekly.com/old/archive/2000/410003.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zbigniew_Brzezinski
http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2013/12/17/what-west-wants-from-ukraine-enthralled-by-paradigm-offered-by-brzezinski-i.html
On still other occasions, my central theme has been that Ukraine's future lies within a larger Europe and a larger trans-Atlantic community, and that it is to them that Ukraine should deliberately gravitate
Some of you may recall that the moment Ukraine became independent, I emphasized repeatedly and publicly that Ukraine's independence transforms the geopolitical map of Europe in a most significant way. That was a theme that I felt was important for Americans to understand. On other occasions, I have stressed that Ukraine's independence signifies the end of the imperial era in Russian history, and this, too, is consequential not only for Russia's neighbors but for Russia itself.
The Ukrainians should be very deliberate in defining themselves as Central Europeans, for that is essential to the consolidation of a truly outstanding national self-consciousness.
Significant, too, is the better attitude of Ukraine towards the whole concept of the future of Europe and its relationship with the United States. Ukraine accepts the notion that Europe should enlarge; it accepts the notion that the trans-Atlantic alliance should enlarge; and that this is a major factor of global stability. Ukraine has not been engaged in providing active assistance to countries whose policies are visibly directed against the United States, be they Iraq, or Serbia, or, at least on the level of joint declarations, the People's Republic of China. Ukraine has welcomed the enlargement both of the European Community and of NATO as elements of a stable international order which consolidates stability and security on the Eurasian mainland, which creates binding and lasting bonds between the United States and Europe. That is important to the future; it is vital to the United States. It is in this context also that Ukrainian forces have engaged in joint maneuvers with NATO, some of which have been held on Ukrainian soil.
But it seems to me that if Russia going to be eventually a member of the European Union and/or of NATO, there's a minor geographical problem on the way - there's something in-between. And what about that which is in between, and particularly, Ukraine? I think we ought to be very clear that in our view of the Europe that's more secure, and whole, and free, and of the European-American alliance that embraces a Europe that is whole and free, that in our vision of the future, Ukraine is part of it. I think that is essential. And I think, frankly, that is more likely than to produce objective conditions that encourage the Russians to seek a similar relationship. Whereas ambiguity on that score has rather negative effects on the nostalgia that still preys on the imaginations of many members of the current Kremlin elite.
Come what may, the events in Ukraine are historically irreversible and geopolitically transformatory. Sooner rather than later, Ukraine will be truly a part of democratic Europe; later rather than sooner, Russia will follow unless it isolates itself and becomes a semi-stagnant imperialistic relic
http://www.ukrweekly.com/old/archive/2000/410003.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zbigniew_Brzezinski
http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2013/12/17/what-west-wants-from-ukraine-enthralled-by-paradigm-offered-by-brzezinski-i.html