Dear friends in the US and Europe, your governments count on your shallow knowledge of Russia and Ukraine, and of history, even most recent history. They don’t want you to see Russia’s actions as its reaction to what the EU and the US had been doing, because if you did, you would see this: your governments stirred a revolution in Kiev that was anti-Russian at its core. Ukraine - its majority - wanted to be with Europe and, at the same time, preserve ties with Russia, its major partner. (Four years ago Yanukovich won elections not because Ukrainians liked him very much but because he promised that while moving the country toward Europe, he would keep the ties with Russia). But the EU put forward an ultimatum - Ukraine, you’re either with us or with Russia. The EU rejected any talks of an arrangement that would allow Ukraine both - to be associated with the EU and to keep close relations with Russia. Some western officials explained it as a “civilizational choice” that Ukraine had to make. With this, the West basically told Russia - all we want from you is your oil and gas, and we don’t want any closer partnership deals with you - even in a pilot version, with Ukraine in the middle. Cold war was in the heads of US and EU officials before Maidan. They pitted the people of Ukraine against each other. It never had to be a choice.

When, after much stoking and stirring, the US and the EU pulled off the revolution at Maidan, Crimea was Russia’s way of saying ‘f*ck you’.

Crimeans, until recently, had almost lost hope of ever rejoining Russia - something they always wanted. They now thank the US, the EU and Maidan for making it happen.

But if you think Russians are enjoying this whole tension with Ukraine, think again: millions of Russians, probably half of the country, have family ties with Ukraine - they’re either Ukrainian, or part Ukrainian, or married to somebody who’s Ukrainian (my cousin, for example), or close friends with a Ukrainian.. It’s all within Russia. And to one day wake up with this kind of tension with Ukraine, is the last thing Russia ever wanted. Sadness and discomfort is what millions of Russians feel about what happened.

In the meantime, many officials in the US and the EU are much enjoying fear-mongering against Russia, because the cold war talk promises certain benefits. Those that come to mind at the moment:

- Fracking. There has been some significant opposition to fracking in Europe, causing headache to Chevron and Co. But the renewed fear-mongering against Russia will help quell the protest. Check out Poland’s most recent announcement http://rt.com/business/poland-shale-taxes-russia-346/

- Military industrial complex. More contracts for Lockheed Martin and other arms producers. More sales to Europeans who will now have an excuse why they need to buy outrageously expensive fighter-jets which they will never use. In other words, more ways to silence the public who’s outraged over ridiculous costs of the war machine. The U.S.’s F-35 program alone will cost taxpayers a Trillion dollars http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/03/the-f-35-a-weapon-that-costs-more-than-australia/72454/ It’s difficult to justify that kind of spending when you present just terrorists as a threat (drones are much cheaper). Defense contractors and their supporters in Congress now have good old Russia and the cold war that can justify any crazy spending. One of the first things Washington did as events in Crimea unfolded - was to send F-16’s to Poland and Lithuania. Anyone who seriously follows Russia’s actions would know it’s ridiculous to assume Russia would ever attack Poland or Lithuania. Sending F-16’s was a show. There will be more shows and you’ll be paying for the tickets, whether you want it or not.

- Cold war talk could also give an additional push for negotiations over deals like the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership - which will effectively undermine certain laws and regulations of European countries in favor of corporations (think Monsanto, Chevron, Exxon etc). U.S. regulations can be affected too, although they’re more loose anyway.

- Distraction. The propaganda war in the media can be used as distraction from many important issues that directly affect our lives, but you don’t hear about them because your attention is directed somewhere else. (Although, I’m not sure what killed the news more last week - cold war fear-mongering or the Malaysian plane).

In the coming weeks and months we’ll be exploring the many outcomes of the crisis. But if you, for a moment, stop looking at events in Ukraine solely from the perspective of US officials and US media, you may see Crimea as a consequence, rather than an event that occurred in a vacuum.

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