A Russian chicken and a NATO egg. Or, is it the other way round?

Democracy Now! reports that “President Obama has met with Ukrainian president-elect Petro Poroshenko as part of a continued swing through Europe. Obama sat down with Poroshenko in Poland after calling on Congress to support a $1 billion plan to ramp up the U.S. military presence across the European continent. Obama said NATO is expanding its presence across Europe following Russian interference in Ukraine. President Obama: “Given Russia’s actions in Ukraine, NATO has increased its presence across the region from the Baltics to the Black Sea. I thank our allies for the contribution they are making and I will be discussing the initiative that I announced today to bolster the U.S. presence in Europe.”

This very predictable and predicted step was clearly on the cards throughout the political upheavals suffered by Ukraine. the US has been pushing for an expansion of NATO in Europe right to the doorstep of Russia, and Ukraine is only one chapter in the quest. Anybody opposed to the plan is a “terrorist”.

Why bother, if Russia is no longer communist? One of the reasons is economic. NATO is not only a military bloc, but it is also a contract to sell weapons, American manufactured weapons, still a fundamental part of the US economy. Its main competitor in this market is…of course, Russia. Another reason is gas. Europe has been getting relatively cheap and less polluting gas from Russia, and Ukraine is right in the middle of the supply line. The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)  also known as the EU-US “Free “Trade Agreement aims to eliminate barriers for US companies investing in Europe including exploitation of shale gas, (fracking) in tandem with lowering standards of environmental protection.

Both the US eagle and the Russian bear are wounded beasts trying to hold on to their imperial glory days with the Ukrainians as piggy in the middle, not being clear what came first, the chicken or the egg. We should move a step up a notch and start thinking, feeling and acting like human beings for the benefit of other human beings.