Parallels

There is a crisis in Ukraine right now. Ukraine is essentially a sovereign nation, once part of the USSR. But with the dissolution of the USSR, Ukraine became an independent, sovereign country. The problem is, Ukraine has a predominantly Russian speaking majority in its Eastern region with closer ties to Russia, and a Ukrainian speaking majority in its Western region with closer ties to Europe. That is to say that the Eastern region was more aligned with Russia than Ukraine. Still, sovereignty is the issue here. And when Russia threw its support for an ousted Eastern Ukrainian leader, that's when the crisis started. Russia sent military troops into the Crimea, considered the capital of Eastern Ukraine. This of course angered the Ukrainians, along with countries of the West such as the United States and its usual allies.

The crisis has pitted the US and Russia on opposite sides once again. Russia claims it is acting on a request made by the ousted Ukrainian leader to restore and maintain peace and order, and to protect the ethnic Russians in the Crimean region. But others see it as intervention by Russia on a sovereign nation whose problems are their own. The rhetoric between Obama and Putin is getting stronger, with the world anxiously waiting, and hoping that things do not escalate. But Russia being what it is, have already moved militarily. Now, the fear is that all these years of bringing Russia out of isolation may go down the drain, if an agreement is not achieved among the protagonists. Where this will eventually lead, only the concerned leaders know for sure. We can only hope that common sense and logic prevail over arrogance and plain old power-tripping between superpowers.

We have our own problems with a power-tripping superpower. Most recently, Philippine vessels were driven out of Ayungin Shoal by Chinese Coast Guard vessels, in what is a clear indication that China will enforce its arrogance over these waters which are still subject to a dispute already elevated to the UN. This time, they made no attempts to deny or feign ignorance of the incident, stating that they will respond to such actions by the country. Again, they claim sovereignty over all islands in the West Philippine Sea.

This is what happens when a superpower acts on a non-superpower nation. They use their military, not diplomacy. China knows that we have already elevated our dispute to an international forum, as should be. But they choose to handle it in a way they are good at. They may not have sent troops to occupy the islands, like what Russia did in the Crimea. But who knows in the coming days, weeks, months. Especially when it becomes clear that we do have a case in claiming several islands.

Perhaps that's why they are starting to assert themselves?