With current events from the Iran
nuclear talks, the policy towards North Korea, Russia intervening in Ukraine, conflict
in the Middle East, and many others, America responds differently to each
one. In the early 1800’s, James Monroe
wrote his seventh Annual Message to Congress, which is also known as the Monroe
Doctrine. The Monroe Doctrine has to do
with how America should and should not interfere with conflict in other
countries if they should at all. So if
tied with a current issue, there are many different decisions America can make
if using the Monroe Doctrine as a base to make them. Any current event affecting the United States
can be used, one of them being Russia’s Intervention in Ukraine. People in Ukraine were very upset with Viktor
Yanukovych's decision to attempt in reclaiming Ukraine as part of Russia even
though Ukraine is an independent country. According to Aliaksandr Kudrytski's article,
"Russia Sends Aid to Rebel Areas as Ukraine Marks Anniversary",
people from Ukraine are marking an anniversary of these conflicts and events
starting about a year ago. Many
different events are still occurring during this conflict today, such as Russia
sending clothes, medicine, and construction materials into Ukraine. Also, people are being blacklisted and many
are even leaving Ukraine. The article
says, “more than a million people are internally displaced or have fled to
neighboring countries as a result of the fighting in eastern Ukraine…” With so much tension and differing views, the
situation between Russia and Ukraine is a very interesting case, and one may
wonder what the United States should do if it were to follow the three lasting
principles of the Monroe Doctrine.
A basic idea of what the Monroe
Doctrine I saying is, “you stay out of our business, and we will stay out of
yours”. This is backed up by the three
lasting principles, which are “separate spheres of influence”,
“non-colonization”, and “non-intervention”.
So when comparing it to Russia’s intervention in Ukraine, if following
this idea, America should not take any physical action in the situation, but
should keep an eye out for escalating conflict.
The separate spheres of influence, which is basically saying, “you stay
in your region, I’ll stay in mine”, has no real effect on the United States as
of now. This means, if following the
Monroe Doctrine, America should not intervene and should leave the situation
alone, because Russia has not done anything to affect America directly. However, this does not mean the United States
should completely ignore the situation, because if something does unexpectedly
happen that directly affects the United States, America should be prepared to
defend itself in order to maintain the safety of its citizens. The second principle is the non-colonization
principle, and it is basically explaining that dominating and ruling other
countries is not allowed. Russia’s
trying to reclaim Ukraine does go against this, however the next principle, the
non-intervention principle, talks about how America will not take action unless
it directly affects the United States.
The article states, “It is only when our rights are invaded or seriously
menaced that we resent injuries or make preparation for our defense.” So since the Russian intervention in Ukraine
does not affect the United States directly, the United States should not
interfere with the conflict if it is following the three lasting principles of
the Monroe Doctrine.
Kudrytski,
Aliaksandr. "Russia Sends Aid to Rebel Areas as Ukraine Marks
Anniversary." Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg, 30 Nov. 2014. Web. 03 Dec. 2014.
