Elections in Ukraine Provinces
TRANSCEND MEMBERS, 17 Oct 2022
Marc Pilisuk, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service
16 Oct 2022 – The recent Russian sponsored elections in four Ukraine provinces were seriously flawed. The US and NATO response to these elections, however, once again missed an opportunity for dialogue that might lead to an end to the war before its escalation into new weapons use and further killing. A more productive reply to Putin would acknowledge that attempts to hear the true voices of those most deeply affected are welcome. If such attempts are to include referenda in the four provinces, they should be monitored by impartial international agencies. We should also welcome special elections to hear the voices of other Ukrainians and of Russians citizens as well as citizens of NATO countries.
The current impasse is fueled by reliance upon governmental leaders with devotions to sovereignty while ignoring wishes of ordinary people. Such wishes include those people in greater Ukraine but also in the Russian Federation, in Europe and the US and in the global economy. The issues worthy of public comment should go beyond the status of the four disputed provinces.
Why not include the public views on whether a military solution is possible, whether the risks of nuclear war are unacceptable, whether the economic and security interests of all affected nations can be protected by agreements and not by violent force? We should ask that leaders of all countries should be expected to use their resources in a cooperative fight to control climate change and pandemic disease.
People have real needs that are trampled by violent conflict and war. Leaders need to hear these needs and to employ dialogue to resolve them without bloodshed.
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Marc Pilisuk, Ph.D. is a member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace Development Environment, professor emeritus at the University of California Davis, and a faculty at Saybrook University, Berkeley, California. He is the author of 10 books and more than 140 articles over an academic career spanning five decades including a 3-volume anthology, Peace Movements Worldwide, with Michael Nagler (Eds) Santa Barbara, 2011; and The Hidden Structure of Violence: Who Benefits from Global Violence and War, with Jennifer Achord Rountree, 2015. He was a founding member of the first Teach-In, The Society Against Nuclear Explosions, The Psychologists for Social Responsibility, and a past president of the Society for the Study of Peace, Conflict and Violence. Among his recognitions is the Howard Zinn Award from the Peace and Justice Studies Association. http://marcpilisuk.com/bio.html Email: mpilisuk@saybrook.edu
Tags: Economics, European Union, Military Industrial Media Complex, NATO, Official Lies and Narratives, Russia, USA, Ukraine, Warfare
This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 17 Oct 2022.
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