American Analyst: Ukraine Should Not Join NATO

KIEV, UKRAINE, May 20 – Speaking yesterday at a roundtable discussion sponsored by the American Institute in Ukraine (AIU), Ivan Eland, Director of the Center for Peace and Liberty of the Independent Institute, a Washington think tank, called for Ukraine to decline membership in NATO and instead pursue alternative security arrangements. Prominent Ukrainian authorities exchanging views with Eland with respect to Ukraine’s actual defense needs, the opinion of Ukraine’s citizens, and other relevant topics included:

• Valeriy Konovalyuk, Deputy of the Verkhovna Rada and Chairman of the Commission investigating illegal supply of military equipment to Georgia;
• Georgiy Kriuchkov, ex-Deputy of the Verkhovna Rada and co-author of the recently released book Bid For Suicide: Why Ukraine Needs NATO?; and
• Dmytro Vydrin, Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.

Among the primary points made by Eland:

• “In any honest assessment of U.S. security goals, faraway Ukraine is not strategic to the United States. For the United States, Ukraine’s admission would mean a nearly impossible obligation to defend a country far forward in return for adding only scant military capabilities to the alliance.
• “For Ukraine, induction into NATO would mean only a dangerous false sense of security under a paper security guarantee. Ukraine ought to think twice about such a move. Instead, Ukraine should try to join the EU for the economic benefits and be more realistic by simply trying to get along better with Russia. Good relations will be much easier if Ukraine is not in an alliance hostile to Russia.
• “As a member of NATO, Ukraine’s foreign policy would be tied to that of the United States. At the U.S.’ behest, NATO has not only expanded its territory in the post-Cold War era, but has violated its defensive charter by expanding its mission to one of offensive warfare outside the treaty area. It has been involved in places as far flung as Bosnia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan. Ukraine, which is working on economic development, might not want to see its resources drained away in military quagmires that don’t affect its vital interests.
• “Polls indicate that the vast majority of Ukrainians are already well aware of the many pitfalls of joining NATO. Only 20 to 30 percent of them approve of doing so. The Ukrainian government would be smart to heed public sentiment and reconsider its bid to join the alliance.
• “The push for continued NATO expansion comes from U.S. defense companies, European-American ethnic interest groups, and ideological support from muscular liberals and neoconservatives. Even before the economic meltdown, the U.S. accounted for 43 percent of the world’s military spending but only 20 percent of its GDP. The United States spends on defense what the next 14 highest nations combined spend on security. In the case of the European Union, the United States is actually subsidizing economic competitors by providing for their ultimate security. Already, the EU has a greater population and GDP than the United States, but spends only half of what the U.S. does on defense. Also, the EU has 12 times the GDP and eight times the defense spending of Russia.”