Pages

Search This Blog

Friday, October 3, 2014

The seeds of failure in Syria and Ukraine were planted long ago


The seeds of failure in Syria and Ukraine were planted long ago
If the United States had developed post-Cold War institutions, it wouldn’t be flailing on foreign policy the way it is today.

In September the United States, along with European and Middle Eastern partners, deployed air power to destroy the radical forces that are occupying territory on the Iraqi-Syrian border. And in his September 24 speech to the UN General Assembly, US President Barack Obama harshly criticized Moscow for seizing Ukrainian territory and backing separatists, saying that “we will impose a cost on Russia for aggression.”
Though more than 1,000 miles apart, these two foreign policy challenges for the United States have much in common. For the sake of civilians—ordinary people trying to make a living, feed their children, and live with a modicum of dignity—we all hope that efforts to end violent conflict in the Middle East and Ukraine will succeed. But Washington’s approach to both problems is ad-hoc and may be much too late. Without new institutions of regional governance, economic integration, and cultural dialogue, these efforts will likely fail to bring about peace and stability.


http://thebulletin.org/seeds-failure-syria-and-ukraine-were-planted-long-ago7666 

No comments: