• Moderators, please send me a PM if you are unable to access mod permissions. Thanks, Habsy.

Western Powers largely alone in condemnation of Russia

northernlou

Idi Admin
Western powers largely alone in condemnation of Russia
Jul. 24 2014

In Kiev, Brussels, Washington and Ottawa, the response to the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was angry and almost unanimous: The evidence was seen as clearly pointing at Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine, which means Moscow itself was at least partly to blame.

But while Western powers like to refer to the “international community” when mustering a case they believe in, such solidarity doesn’t really exist. Among Russia’s allies – most crucially, its fellow members of the BRICS club of emerging powers (Brazil, India, China and South Africa) – the initial response to the tragedy was silence, followed by increasing skepticism of the evidence presented by the U.S. and Ukrainian governments.

That means Russia – even as Western governments move to punish the Kremlin for its continued support of the separatist Donetsk People’s Republic by escalating economic sanctions – will still have an escape valve for its economy. As markets in the West close, Moscow can turn east and south, a process under way since March, when the first Western sanctions were implemented in response to Russia’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula.

And it’s not just China, although Beijing’s status as the world’s second superpower gives it special clout. There have been only messages of condolence, and no condemnations of Mr. Putin, from leaders of Brazil, India and South Africa following the plane crash .....

.... “The U.S. is saying ‘All the international community is with us,’ but even the Europeans aren’t really with us,” said Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group, a New York-based consulting firm that analyzes political risk.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/western-powers-largely-alone-in-condemnation-of-russia/article19735260/
 
Back
Top