U W iOûiN UUi Y .Z^JUS F SPRING 1994 NO. 1; VOl. Xiy CORRESPONDENCE Freedom for Nations ! Freedom for Individuals! General R. Close East-West Relations: The New Rules of the Game Bertil Hâggman Modern Russian Imperialistic Politics Ihor Dlaboha CIA's Double Spook: Cold Shower for U.S. DOCUMENTS AND- Latvian Government Announcement on Russian Troop Withdrawal ABN Declaration on elections in the Russian Federation USLFD Meeting Ukraine Joins Partnership for Peace CONTENTS General Robert Close, East-West Relations: The New Rules of the G am e................................ 2 Bertil Haggman, Modem Russian Imperialist Politics................................................................ 4 Ukraine, Poland Sign Pact 9 Lev E. Dobriansky, Human Rights, Democracy and National Self-Determination . 1 0 Ihor Dlaboha, CIA's Double Spook: Cold Shower for U . S . ................................................ 12 Ukraine Joins Partnership for P e a c e ........................................................................................ 15 Ed Stoddard, Setback in Estonian, Russian Troop T a l k s ........................................................ 16 Republic of Latvia - Cabinet of Ministers Announcem ent........................................................ 17 Vladimir Vodeau, I'm No Hitler, Says Vladimir Z h ir in o v s k y ................................................ 19 J. B. Rudnyckyj, Russian Neo-colonialism and the Problem of Crimea........................................ 20 General Close, The Long March of the L e a g u e ........................................................................ 22 The ABN Declaration on the parliamentary elections in the Russian Federation. 2 5 WLFD's New Role as UN N G O ....................................................................................................28 Press Reports 30 EU wants to help shut down Chernobyl............................................................................................32 USLFD Meeting 33 ABN CORRESPONDENCE Publisher and Owner (Verleger und Articles signed with name or pseudonym do not Inhaber): American Friends of the Anti- necessarily reflect the Editor's opinion, but that Bolshevik Bloc of Nations (AF ABN), 136 of the author. Manuscripts sent in unrequested Second Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10003, cannot be returned in case of non-publication U.S.A. unless postage is enclosed. Zweigstelle Deutschland: A. Dankiw, Zeppelinstr. 67,81669 München. It is not our practice to pay for contributed materials. Reproduction permitted only with Editorial Staff: Board of Editors indication of source (ABN Corr.). Editor-in-Chief: Mrs Slava Stetsko, M.A. Annual subscription: 27 US dollars, and the Schriftleitung: Redaktionskollegium equivalent in all other countries. Remittances to Verantw. Redakteur: Frau Slava Stetzko Deutsche Bank, Munich, Neuhauser Str. 6, Zeppelinstr. 67 account no. 3021003, Anna Dankiw. 81669 München, Gennany Druck: Druckerei Mühlthaler Tel: 48 25 32 Fax: 48 65 19 Karlstr. 35, 80333 München A Word from the Editor... Elections in Ukraine After a lifetime spent fighting for the right of all nations for national independence, self-determination, and political freedom, I awaited the first elections in my homeland Ukraine with great anticipation. There were, of course, many positive and negative moments throughout the strenuous months of election campaigning. One always has hopes for drastic, sweeping changes for the better. The two most positive aspects of the elections were the fact that approximately 75% of all registered voters participated in the elections. This good turnout accounted for the fact that some changes could be made. For instance, only one third of the former communists have won seats in Parliament. The new Parliament has a particularly important role in the near future, since decisive actions must be taken to combat the economic crisis, to initiate the process of privatisation, to implement political and economic reforms, to combat escalating inflation, and to move towards a social market economy. In spite of the changes occuring in Ukraine at the present time, it seems that the West, and in particular, the United States, only seem to show some minor interest in Ukraine, when the issue of nuclear weapons is raised. It was only with the removal of the warheads for destruction to Russia, that the United States took slight interest in the political and economic affairs of Ukraine promising a small sum for compensation in relation to the billions promised to Russia in order to assist with the ‘reform’ program there. An encouraging development was Ukraine’s signing of NATO’s Partnership for Peace initiative. If all other Eastern European countries join the initiative, it will ensure closer cooperation among nations. * * * Please note that ABN Correspondence will now be published four times yearly (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter). The editorial board would kindly appreciate receiving your articles for publication. 1 General Robert Close* East-West Relations: The New Rules of the Game The fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, the collapse of the Soviet Empire, the awakening of democracy of the former East European satellite countries and the disbandment of the Warsaw Pact are many puzzling events which took place at the end of the Cold War. This could have led us to believe in a new World Order, or even the birth of a Europe which would stretch from the Atlantic to the Urals. At the dawn of 1994, what remains of our premature dreams and wagers on an optimistic evolution of history, whilst still ignoring the unquestionable geographical realities and the emergence of new personalities whose accession to supreme power could radically change a geostrategic balance as precarious as ever? During the short time in which East-West relations changed drastically, Western Europe prematurely and dangerously reduced its defense budgets to such a degree that we wonder today whether the member nations of the Atlantic Alliance are still capable of carrying out lengthy military operations. Conscientious objection is so popular in Germany today that the number of young people fit for military service is reduced by 50%. Among the German brigades originally foreseen for assignment to the Rapid Reaction Force, 6 of them only will have the required manpower. The remaining 20 brigades will suffer from a permanent lack of 40% personnel. Apart from these 26 brigades, others will need 6 months of mobilisation before becoming operational. The situation is not much better in Great Britain where “privatisation” attempts are carried out to compensate for the severe cuts made in personnel and the overall defense budget. In Belgium, 1994 is the first year in which we are able to feel the impact of the disastrous consequences of the suppression of military service, and therefore question our participation in operations carried out under the aegis of the United Nations in former Yugoslavia and Ruanda. In short, the Belgian army will be drastically reduced to the 12,000 men meant to join the Eurocorps, that is, if the recruitment of volunteers for the “Professional Armed Forces” corresponds to the fallacious hopes of our sorcere’s apprentices in the government! “Understaffed, underfunded and overstretched, NATO is dead”, wrote Ian Davidson in the Financial Times in January 1994, adding that “the corpse is twitching, but there is no life in it!” The decisions made at the last North Atlantic Summit on January 10-11 are a perfect example of verbal gesticulations, without any future concrete actions for revitalising an Alliance whose real usefulness is questioned by many in view of its disappointing passivity in the Yugoslav conflict. The “Partnership for Peace” proposal does not fulfill any of the expectations of the former satellite countries and does not offer them any credible security guarantees. This, at the precise moment when a man like Zhirinovsky - “clown or new fiihrer'’’’ as Patrick Wajsman calls him - is in the spotlight of a new Russia and acts as an extreme 2 nationalist of the Liberal Democratic Party potentially aspiring to supreme powers in this country. On the other hand, Moscow made the West understand unambiguously that the admission of the East European nations to NATO will be considered as an unfriendly act, likely to bring about a new Cold War. This simply means that the West grants Russia its former influential role over the ex-satellite countries. It also means that Russia arrogantly assumes the right of “de facto” veto on the West’s relations with the East. At the moment, the American commitment to European defense consists only of a promise to keep 100,000 men stationed on European ground - i.e. one third of US troops present until recently - and of strictly verbal declarations condemning the cruel exactions in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the slow genocide of a martyr nation. Obviously, the Yugoslav imbroglio is strictly an European affair. Let us face it. There is no oil there and another mobilisation of Western armed forces in response to the aggression, as in the Gulf War, is out of the question. Alas! In European defense matters, we are reduced to wishful thinking. The Eurocoips, with a total of about 40,000 men, will not be operational for another two or three years and the erosion of the will to defend ourselves is more apparent than ever. The pursuit of the elusive “Dividends of Peace”, an easy and demagogic solution, will undoubtedly remain a slogan for short-sighted politicians. Indeed it is distressing to see that 350