This week we turn the reader’s particular attention to our interview with German political scientist Alexander Rahr, who says precisely what ought to be said in this country at the present time. Unlike elites in the former communist satellites, who at least know what they don’t know and that the West is the place to get it, the people running this country think they already know everything and try to dictate the terms on which it will accept help. I recall that a few years ago a group of Ukrainian ОmigrОs sweated blood collecting medical help for Ukrainian children only to be told by an official in the Ministry of Health how many thousands of dollars he required in order to “accept” their largess. In another case about the same time a similar group organized a meeting in the West with big-league multinational corporations only to be told by the person managing the schedule of the principle person on the Ukrainian side how much he would need to put the gathering on his boss’s schedule. And such cases are legion. Sorry, no names here. The names are withheld to protect the guilty.
The other point made by my German colleague is that with the end of the bipolar world order traditional geopolitics is reemerging and that in it the stakes will be more economic than political. In a world where bankers are beginning to overshadow politicians a country whose economy seems to be making its way leisurely toward collapse (see the predictions for next spring) is simply not capable of being a player in international affairs, only a chip in someone else’s game. And make no mistake about it, the Great Game once played in Asia between the Russian and British Empires has begun again, this time with the main prize being Caspian Sea oil, with a whole new cast of players. With different policies Ukraine, which incidentally has the largest oil refining capacity in Europe, could also be a player, but with what it has, it seems doomed to be just another part of the stakes.
Another geopolitical reality is also becoming clear. Europe is gradually taking shape, not only as Rahr would have it, around the core of Schengen states, but also in much broader terms. The Europeans themselves have no idea of just how big a Europe they want, and Ukraine has yet to decide whether it wants to be part of it or on what terms. And the worse things get, the less likely anyone will ever want it there.






