That same decade, U.S. officials helped negotiate the dissection of Yugoslavia into various ethnic enclaves. Later in the 1990s, the U.S. government even bombed Serbia to help Kosovo gain its independence, despite centuries of deep historical ties between Serbia and Kosovo.
In 2011, the U.S. government supported the creation of South Sudan, carving this new oil-rich nation out of Sudan. The supposed motive for breaking South Sudan loose was to stop a civil war, although independent South Sudan has since slid into political violence.
The Obama administration disputes allegations of U.S. hypocrisy about secessions, calling these comparisons "apples and oranges." But the truth is that all secession cases are unique, a balance of history, pragmatism and politics. Very seldom are they simple and clear-cut.
In Crimea, the case for secession from Ukraine seems strong: Crimea is populated mostly by ethnic Russians; many people speak Russian; and they have historically viewed themselves as part of Russia. If a large majority of the voters prefer joining Russia, why shouldn't they?
Perhaps the case for Crimea's secession would have been weaker if the Western nations hadn't so eagerly embraced the putsch in Kiev. If the Feb. 21 agreement had been enforced -- clearing the way for Yanukovych's orderly departure -- Obama's argument might make more sense. The constitutional procedures would have remained intact.
But the haste with which Washington and Brussels recognized the coup government -- with Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland's choice for Ukraine's leadership, neoconservative favorite Arseny Yatsenyuk, named interim prime minister -- shattered the formal political process of Ukraine.
That was followed by the post-coup rump parliament passing measures, often unanimously, that targeted the political security of ethnic Russians in the country's east and south. Combined with threats from the neo-Nazis who have grabbed significant power and favor a purified Ukraine for ethnic Ukrainians, the nation confronts a potential civil war.
In such a case -- with the prospects of ethnic cleansing and the violence that would surely follow -- the most reasonable solution might well be to hold referenda in Crimea and in eastern Ukraine on whether the people in those areas want to stay attached to the Kiev regime. If the people in those regions want independence or association with Russia, why should the United States ratchet up a new Cold War to prevent that?
If what's left of Ukraine wants to join the European Union -- and if the EU would want it -- then those Ukrainians could vote for their future, too.
Democracy means little if populations are compelled to remain part of an undemocratic regime that has seized power in the capital by force and demonstrates hostility toward outlying regions. Since such a predicament now exists in Ukraine, the best-imperfect solution could be to dispatch international observers to Crimea to monitor the plebiscite and verify whether the popular vote fairly reflects the people's will.
[For more of Consortiumnews.com's exclusive coverage of the Ukraine crisis, see "The "We-Hate-Putin' Group Think"; " Putin or Kerry: Who's Delusional?"; "America's Staggering Hypocrisy"; " What Neocons Want from Ukraine Crisis"; "Ukraine: One 'Regime Change' Too Many?"; "A Shadow US Foreign Policy"; "Cheering a 'Democratic' Coup in Ukraine"; "Neocons and the Ukraine Coup."](Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
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