World Politics News   Articles for World Politics Course

The response of the Russian people to the activities of their country in Ukraine has been incredibly supportive–Spiegel reports that polls indicate that over 80% of the Russian people support President Putin’s positions and actions in Ukraine.   In many respects, the enthusiasm in Russia reminds me of the support that President George W. Bush received from the American people in the “War on Terror.”  Such nationalist sentiments are easy to understand in some respects, but the critical question is how long-lived the sentiment can burn at such high heat.  It took about two years for the American people to begin to question the war in Iraq, and intense nationalism is always troublesome in the short run.

Pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine have taken representatives of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) hostage.  The OSCE had sent in military observers in order to determine whether Russian-speaking Ukrainians were in fact being ill-treated by Kievan authorities.  The hostage-taking raises the stakes for Europe in Ukraine as it is a direct challenge to European authority on matters of peace-keeping.  US President Obama has been pushing for tougher economic sanctions against Russia, and several European states were reluctant to take such steps.  The Russian challenge to the OSCE may force the hand of the Europeans.

There’s an old word that is quickly achieving a great deal of attention.  The word is oligarchy and many are using it to describe the American political system.  Perhaps the best example of an historical oligarchy is 14th Century Venice.  There was literally a list of familial names that signified those who participate in economic activities in the city.  As long as the book was open to new names, Venice thrived as the economic center of Europe.  Once the list was closed, Venice began a slow decline that was never arrested.  The wealth inequality in the US has reached such concentrated levels that the word oligarchy is becoming increasingly more plausible as a description of the American political system.