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Media Support 'Self-Determination' for US Allies, Not Enemies
Shupak, Gregory
http://fair.org/home/media-support-self-determination-for-us-allies-not-enemies/Publisher: FAIR Year Published: 2022 Resource Type: Article Cx Number: CX24651 Non-Western media outlets have identified a precedent for Russia citing Donetsk and Luhansk's right to self-determination as a rationale for attacking Ukraine: the Kosovo War. In 1999, NATO conducted a 78-day war that helped to dismember Yugoslavia and create a new state, Kosovo, a Serbian province whose population was 90% ethnic Albanians. Abstract: - Excerpt: The Kosovo/Donbas parallel may be inexact, but it has merit. In each case, residents were subjected to violence and discrimination, and a substantial portion of them expressed a desire to exercise their right to self-determination; in both Ukraine and the former Yugoslavia, an outside power attempted to justify a military assault by saying that it needed to rescue a minority population from persecution. One crucial difference, of course, is that the Ukrainian government is supported by the US, while Donbas residents seeking self-determination are allied with Russia and Russia did the invading in the name of supposed humanitarianism; in contrast, the Yugoslavian government was backed by Russia, whereas Kosovars seeking self-determination were supported by the US, which invaded Yugoslavia allegedly for humanitarian reasons. Subject Headings |