Some Reflection on Ukraine’s Future
I had the good fortune to lecture at two of the preeminent universities of Lviv. That is always a favorite part of my trips to Ukraine – a dialogue with students, which in my opinion offers an opportunity to see the future.
I recently published an English language book entitled “Russian Crimes in Ukraine.” It had been published in the United States as well earlier and is available at various outlets. In Ukraine, the publisher was the Lviv National Ivan Franko University, and the books were disseminated free of charge to libraries and ten of the largest universities in Ukraine.
My purpose is to interest the students in some basic aspects of international law and encourage them to study English. The Ukrainian language is very important, but English is indispensable as a second language, especially as Ukraine moves closer to the European Union and NATO.
It is also a replacement for people long oppressed and compelled to use only the Russian language to the detriment of their own. It’s time to bury at long last the Russian language which was a weapon of the oppressor, today offers nothing and is a dead language everywhere except the Russian empire.
During my two presentations at the Lviv National and Lviv Polytechnic universities, I was once again very much impressed with the level of the students, who exhibited keen minds with original critical thinking and dynamic ideas.
The representation was varied with graduates and undergraduates and in various fields from history to law. There is a particular interest in the law, perhaps due to the fact that under Soviet Russian oppression, the law was not based on justice but on giving the regime justification for its brutal rule.
I often remark that the rule of law means the rule of justice, because laws can be enacted by repressive regimes to further their purpose.
International law as it stands today, with its relatively feckless institutions and almost powerless execution, can be considered merely a dream, but it certainly is the most significant aspiration of the modern era and dare not be abandoned.
It must be reformed, however.
Empires, for the most part, are evil phenomena of the past, with the exception of the Russian Federation (read Empire), as it encompasses almost 150 different nations, persecuted by one, the Russian nation, who had acquired its territories mostly by imperialistic invasion.
The culture of the colonizer has not mellowed, but has put its own people outside the civilized democratic world. Before any consideration is given to changing the mindset of that nation, the empire must be dissolved.
The most significant institution of international law is the United Nations which, unfortunately, despite the addition of covenants and institutions, has failed to change in essence, with perhaps its most significant organ, the Security Council, largely intact, allowing aggressors to take advantage and very often render it null and void.
Of course, the problem was in its founding documents, but 80 years later, the condition of lack of efficacy remains and is exploited by bad nations. There are bad nations forged by their culture. Strangely enough, a Russian mother is more often than not an imperialist.
The purpose of the UN, along with its covenants and the institutions that followed, is expressed in the preamble to its 1945 Charter: to prevent war. That makes the UN Security Council its most important and most flawed institution.
One very significant option would be to eliminate the veto power of the five permanent members. Three of the five today should initiate such reform. Unfortunately, today, three of the five may refuse to act. A Trump America is very much a quandary.
Assuming a joint Ukrainian-European winning conclusion to the war in Ukraine, which was the prevailing mood in the two auditoriums, Ukraine’s future appears bright, precisely because of its next generation.
That future is much more oriented towards Europe than America, which is a major distinction from previous outlooks. As an American by citizenship, I am fine with that, although very disappointed with my country of citizenship.
The views expressed are the author’s and not necessarily of Kyiv Post.
Source: Askold S. Lozynskyj