JRL NEWSWATCH: “Ukraine’s Appeals to Europe Can Alienate Others; Rhetoric about ‘European civilization’ clashes with anti-colonial ideals.” – Foreign Policy
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“… Ukrainian pleas for military aid, financial support, and eventual membership in the European Union and NATO have often used the language of Europe and of European civilization. … Zelensky stressed that Ukraine is fighting for the ‘European way of life,’ founded upon ‘rules, values, equality, and fairness.’ This is a powerful idea for Ukrainians, but one that can be off-putting to those with a memory of being Europe’s victims. … [U]ncritical embrace of Europe chafes … against the anti-colonial nature of Ukraine’s resistance, which its politicians and activists … emphasize. … Zelensky called Russia’s invasion colonial and called Russia a colonizer …. Ukrainians have taken decolonization to heart … targeting Russia’s history of imperialism …. Russian imperialism has often skirted attention from anti-colonial activism groups and even in academia …. Russia’s imperial expansion into Eastern Ukraine, including Crimea, and Poland has garnered attention since the invasion. … Russia’s brutal campaign of suppression and colonization in the Northern Caucasus … and … Central Asia is less well known. … Russia’s approaches to its former colonies, such as maintaining economic dependence and cultural influence are recognizable to those who know of European colonialism. …”