Bài học từ Cộng hòa Novorossiya
Lesson from the Republic of Novorossiya
Ukraine is close to (is on the verge of/ is on the point of/ is teeting on) a disintegration as seen (shown/ indicated) through the image of a red flag with blue cross flying on the top of a tank stationing at the entrance to Novoazovsk town, which is now a battlefield between Kiev and the pro-Russian separatist forces.
The flag has been adopted by the National Assembly of “Republic of Novorossiya” and introduced by its Chairman Oleg Tsarev on August 13. The “Republic of new Russia”, the coalition of the provinces of Donetsk and Lugansk in Eastern Ukraine, has declared Donetsk and Lugansk as its territory in the Donbass region.
The separation of these Ukraine Eastern provinces in the name of “Republic of Novorossiya” leaves/ offers a major lesson for all nations (and a painful one for Ukraine) regarding the sacred and inalienable unity of a “nation – state”. As defied by Mostafa Rejai and Cynthia H. Enloe in “Nation-States and State-nations” published on International Studies Quarterly in 1969: “a nation represents a social group sharing a common territory and ethnicity and as such it is a cultural-psychological concept. Regarding statehood, a state is an independent political structure (body/ institution/ entity) in control of a given territory, with a comprehensive legal system and a concentration of power to maintain and enforce law and order. As such, the state concept is of legal and political nature.
Since February this year, after the new government in Ukraine has broken (sabotaged/ undermined) the balance between Ukraine nationalism and Russian nationalism, which have long been coexisted during the 20th century through/ with various unpopular move such as the non-recognition of the use of Russian language in eastern Ukraine. As a result, the situation in the country has rapidly worsened (deteriorated) and “Russian nationalism” has at once given rise to separatist movement.
Separatism means seeking an alternative nationalism to replace the present one (which in this case is Ukraine). When nationalism fails to harmonize with the corresponding sense of statehood, it is inevitable that the people of Russian origin and the Russian in general will seek to form a new state, which is the case now with the formation of the Republic of N. It is regretable that those who have acted as advisors for the Spring Revoltution in Kiev have failed to remember this nation-state tenet.
Any nation that has lost the sense of statehood will become a nation without a state (a stateless nation) or be assimilated into other nations. The case in point is the fate of the Indians in the United State of America whose state has disappeared in the form of “Indian reservations” rather than be recognized as sub states.
Therefore, all nations must preserve their national cultural identities and nurture the sense of statehood to ensure their lifehood in their sacred land.
DK Linh 