The Russia as "Imperialist" Thesis Is Wrong and a Barrier to (Ukrainian) Solidarity

[Tommy_Carcetti]

70. The Ukrainian nation has been around for centuries.

As in the nation of people who identify as Ukrainian, within a concentrated geographic area, with a distinct language, culture, customs, religious sects, that are different from those who surround it. That the land had been ruled over by various imperial powers over the years does not defeat the identity of the Ukrainian people and the nation. The modern day boundaries of Ukraine, from the east to the west, contain a majority of persons who consider themselves ethnically Ukrainian.

Ukraine is not a hodgepodge Frankenstein creation like Yugoslavia. That's a fiction.

The separatist movement in Ukraine is real in the sense that it is actually occurring. However, it is not truly a separatist movement in that people want to split the country apart. These armed seperatists are ethnically Russian, whether they are from the ethnic Russian minority in the east of Ukraine, or they are Russian nationals (and I believe it is a combination of both.) Their ultimate goal, very much stated, is not secession and independence but rather absorption of "Novorossiya" into Russia.

As for Iraq, I simply can't speak for that country as I don't have as familiar a knowledge of the people there. I do know that the boundaries of the modern country were drawn by the British in the 20th Century. I know that the three general factions are Kurdish, Sunni and Shia. But I don't know whether the desire of the people is to identify on a tribal basis or a national Iraqi basis. So I'm not even going to comment on whether that country should be split or remain unified.

I do know that it is the ultimate desire of the vast majority of Ukrainians in both the east and west to remain one country, regardless of whatever differences there may be. Recent polls reflect this.