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Ukraine
Apr 22, 2014 14:12:08 GMT -7
Post by the_kumatei on Apr 22, 2014 14:12:08 GMT -7
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Ukraine
Apr 22, 2014 17:01:23 GMT -7
Post by MikaMika on Apr 22, 2014 17:01:23 GMT -7
I was kind of following it, but since I haven't been working I lost track. Messed up stuff over there...
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Ukraine
Apr 22, 2014 21:15:01 GMT -7
Post by Misha on Apr 22, 2014 21:15:01 GMT -7
I haven't followed it, but I knew it was happening. I only skimmed some stuff about it, but I don't know their history and politics well enough to fully understand all the reasons and ramifications of it, and I just haven't sat down to educate myself on it so I can fully grasp it.
I did hear about the Attorney General and her little following there now and all that fanart of her. At least she seems to be flattered by it, but it bothered me when I first started seeing it... Here's a serious woman in a serious position in the middle of a VERY serious situation.. ...and people are making moe fanart of her...
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Ukraine
Apr 23, 2014 14:52:55 GMT -7
Post by Darthtabby on Apr 23, 2014 14:52:55 GMT -7
I've been more informed about what's going on at certain points than others. There's definitely been times where I've been asleep at the wheel so to speak. Something to note about this crisis is how vastly different media coverage in different places is. Take a look at this BBC article on the Ukraine's far right and their role in what's been going on. Outside that article, can any of you remember much mention of the involvement of the Ukranian far right in what's been going on in Western media? Contrast that to Russian media coverage which to my understanding basically describes what happened in the Ukraine as a fascist takeover. As far as historical background is concerned, I gather it went something like this: A pro-Russian politician was elected in an allegedly rigged vote about a decade back, but mass protests led to a new election that elected a pro-Western government that made constitutional reforms. Then the pro-Western government got caught up in corruption scandals and the pro-Russian politician ended up getting elected again, and the constitution got changed again (somewhere along the line the former president ended up being jailed, I think her release might have been a condition for Ukrainian integration with the EU). Anyway this guy decided to back out of a EU integration deal that had been under negotiation for a long time and announced closer economic ties with Russia, which became a flashpoint for pro-Western protesters who drove him out of power. Crimea is a bit of land that juts out of the bottom of the Ukraine that historically belonged to Russia but became part of the Ukraine while both countries were part of the Soviet Union. It has a Russian majority, a significant number of Ukrainians, and is also home to the minority Crimean Tatars, a group that were deported and persecuted during Soviet times who very much do not want to be part of Russia. I can actually see Crimeans voting to join Russia but the percentage from that referendum reminds me too much of the percentages from "elections" in Middle Eastern dictatorships. Also playing into this is Nato's Eastern expansion during the 1990s and 2000s, which intentionally or not fueled Russian paranoia. There's a widespread view in Russia that the west took advantage of Russian weakness after the cold war. Which may partly explain why Russia has been flexing its muscles in its traditional sphere of influence the last few years. There was an interesting article on the ups and downs of US Russia relations under Bush and Obama but I haven't found it again.
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