The United States should carefully consider Ukraine crisis: peace, not control

When discussing the current situation in Ukraine, you need to be very careful with the words you choose. Stating an opinion could be a trap.

I come from an ex-communist country, so I do have some background with the way this type of political system works and the hard process that comes after a big change. In this situation there are three major variables: Ukraine, which has a political issue in need of being solved, Russia, which got involved, and the U.S., which would like to maintain peace.

Besides the fact that Russia might have acted by fear of chaos, political interest or economic interest, the U.S. steps on thin ice. Both Russia and the U.S. are very strong entities, and a dispute could have serious global implications. Although the European Union and the U.S. would like to get involved and help, I do not believe that a strong involvement is possible or advisable.

But Ukrainians have the right to solve their own situation, and I support that. Looking back at the Eastern European Bloc, all the former communist countries have been through what Ukraine is going through right now. These countries managed to change from communist systems to democratic ones during revolutions between 1989-91.

The change does not come easy. Some of these countries managed to rebuild and progress very fast, while others remained stacked in poverty, corruption and political instability.

Of course there are other elements here as well, such as resources, logistics, and good political systems. But there is something that we all need to keep in mind; all of these countries that have switched from communist political systems to democratic ones have done so by revolutions, by fighting on the streets for their freedom.

They paid a very high price; a price in blood. Obviously the trauma is still present and we are talking of people that are aware of the price of liberty. If the Ukrainians went out on the streets it is because they had enough.

I can relate with choosing a democratic party that does not fulfill their promises. For example in Romania in 2012, thousands of people went out on the streets to protest against shale gas drilling. What happened is very simple. The government promised something, and then after the election the party changed its mind and people protested until everything was seized.

In my opinion Ukraine’s former president, Viktor Yanukovych, did not want to commit to the European Union’s strict rules against corruption. At the same time I’m afraid bigger interests drive Russia’s reaction. It is quite hard to maintain such a big country like that and constantly be making a profit. Besides, when we are talking about Russia, we all have in the back of our brains the tough Soviet history, making us all assume the worst.

I stand behind any courageous group that defends itself. Ukrainians need to be strong and fight for what they want. Political systems should always remember that they are elected by the people to serve the people, not to go against them.

Political systems should also remember that thousands and thousands of people are stronger than a full building with political figures and that every government that forces its own people to kill each other will not succeed.

Regarding the implication of other figures in this equation I could not say too much. The intelligence, political strategies and interests are bigger than we are aware of. But, we will see.

I know it is not in anyone’s interest to go to war, although bit by bit Russia takes control over villages next to the Crimean border. I would like to see Ukraine solving its own issues; they have the right. At the same time, any external power should get involved only to bring peace and support the population, not to be in control of the country.

Lastly, I believe that the U.S. should be careful. If the U.S. does not get involved it would jeopardize its peacemaker reputation, but if its response is too strong we might face a catastrophe. I am not sure of the outcome, but I have a feeling this is not going to be solved overnight.

Amalia Alexandru is a graduate student studying Communication at California State Univer