This writing is a continuation from blog previous blog posts, emerging from the Ukraine-Russia situation. Within this writing I connect my thoughts to a research report, entitled as: “Can Foreign Powers Bring Peace to Venezuela?” by the International Crisis Group (2022).
As previously written the Russia-Ukraine situation is complex. Whilst taking part in Europe, we are able to make connections to the Eastern and Western hemispheres, given the conversations and dialogues that have emerged, with attention to specific regions. Linking Russia with China, Pakistan and South America, in particular the conversation that surrounds Venezuela. I found it interesting that scholars noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin did want peaceful resolutions to address his concerns with Ukraine (2022, p.29), to note the silence of tensions that were already present, before making the way to public media / main stream attention. These ideas were already noted in previous blog posts, with regards to the pipelines and natural gas supplies, associated with Ukraine’s management of cost.
We can also see how research predictions / theory are not always accurate, given that today we hear and see the devastation from the Russia-Ukraine war. This is also where we can note the difference from Academia and Government. Researchers should be able to flesh ideas, and make predictions given the information that they have accumulated at the time, and of course the act of war or decision is beyond the scope of an academic paper. However, this view should not serve to discredit the scientific endeavour of research. For instance if 12 scholarly sources are predicting a same outcome, there must be some level of truth? However; a decision at the time of writing is also based upon a particular view and opinion. In the case of the research report, the writer (s) draws upon the “Testimony by Dr. Fiona Hill (deputy assistant to the president and senior director for European and Russian affairs, National Security Council, 2017-19), Joint Hearings, U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Oversight Committees, 14 October 2019. Hill said the Russian government had signal[ed] very strongly that they wanted to somehow make some very strange swap arrangement between Venezuela and Ukraine” (p.29) I guess the swap arrangements and negotiations just didn’t work out as Russia would have also intended?
The Ukraine humanitarian crisis is overshadowed by the energy and oil conversation exactly because this is where and why the act of war started from, the root cause. Individuals and nations who already feel overwhelmed from the health pandemic, and topical issues of the day, will unfortunately feel the addition layers of tensions, psychological impact and so on. But of course this does not compare to loosing ones entire livelihood, the lives one has built, relationships, the lives lived as one has known on a regular basis. These views are also connected to the war ravaged regions of Afghanistan, Syria and the Middle-East.
What makes Venezuela unique is that the humanitarian crisis has not stemmed directly from a war and invasion (thankfully). I appreciated the idea of lifting sanctions within phases, to note that the already existing tensions that surround Venezuela should not be met with further conflicts, as nations try to negotiate with the leaders of Venezuela. Russia and China were encouraged to persuade Venezuela to negotiate for the purposes of sanctions relief, resolutions and reaching a settlement over the disputes. I am unsure of Saudi Arabia’s role in all of this at the moment, except for the rising of oil price. I would also agree that multilateral bodies assist with co-operation between Venezuela and Columbia, which connects well with the recent efforts from Senator Rubio and President Jospeh R. Biden Jr., to meet with Colombian Presidential delegation to the US to draw upon the need for mediators.
The metaphor of a country / nation as bruised depicts the idea of hurt and in need of healing from political disputes. This reveals that a nation is as life, that deserves to be cared for, loved, nourished, protected, and much more, in-order for the survival of nations.
Reference | International Crisis Group. (2022). Can Foreign Powers Bring Peace to Venezuela? In Overcoming the Global Rift on Venezuela (p. 29-32). International Crisis Group. http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep39647.9
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Notes: These thoughts were originally hand-written on March 13th 2022.
With Love & Kindness! 🙂
{HEART'S, FOREVER!} 