ANALYSIS/OPINION:
First the Yugoslav wars and now the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict confirm a geopolitical maxim (“Azerbaijan claims seizing villages in fighting with Armenia,” Web, Oct. 3). The breakup of multinational entities is likely to result in young states that do not naturally command the allegiance of all their people. Put more crudely: Better you be a minority in my state than I in yours.
The legacy of the Soviet Union has yet to run its course. The Slavs of Transnistria, which abuts Ukraine, don’t feel any affinity with the Romanian-speaking Moldovan authorities, and they furthermore fear that Romania will eventually absorb Moldova. Then there are the Abkhazians and South Ossetians of Georgia, who distrust Tbilisi rule. Most worrying of all is Ukraine.
To treat these cases solely as instances of Russian imperial rule is unhelpful. The West needs to tread carefully. Don’t make a bad situation worse.
YUGO KOVACH
Dorset, United Kingdom
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