“Crimea is not a precedent”
22/03/2014 00:00
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Joshua Goldshtein, professor at the “American University” in Washington
D.C, and author of “International Relations”, says that Crimea changes
the international relations by deepening the division between the bigger
powers, even in Europe. He explained through an e-mail communication
with Top Channel that Crimea doesn’t establish a precedent.
“Crimea’s annexation is something new. Boundaries haven’t change through force in decades. It is also a special issue, especially for the way how Hrushov gave it to Ukraine to celebrate his birthday, and how the presence of the Russian fleet has always been there. So, it doesn’t create a precedent for countries to take territories through force’, Goldstein declared.
The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, and the Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, have mentioned Kosovo several time to explain the case of Crimea. Goldstein thinks that there are similarities.
“In both cases, people wanted to leave the country they were in. The foreign militaries helped for this to take place, Russia too. Its independence is not recognized by the UN. The UN card and the international law strongly support sovereignty and self-determination, and I think that many countries understand that if we allow people to make secessions whenever they like, there would be chaos and violence. Russia must admit this, since the self-determination for Crimea could open the doors for a self-determination of Chechnya, etc”, the United States professor declared.
Goldstein considered Crimea’s annexation not a very smart move from Moscow.
“I think that Russia will be more isolated. They might be removed from the G8. The Crimea voters will not be part of the elections in Ukraine. The country will turn to the west and NATO in the future. Europe will look for other energy sources, and the Russian economy will be damaged”, he explained.
Goldstein says that it would have been smarter if Russia would control Crimea without annexing it, same as Taiwan, who is not declaring independence from China. Ambiguity is sometimes a useful strategy”.
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