Colin Wolfgang: Ukraine’s downward spiral
In his 1946 speech, Winston Churchill spoke of the "iron curtain" descending across the continent of Europe. The Cold War has been over for more than two decades, and yet Russia's influence on the continent is as pronounced as ever as order unravels in neighboring Ukraine due to botched negotiations between the Ukrainian President, Viktor Yanukovich, and the European Union. The situation is a diplomatic nightmare, with great urgency as the already dismal economic outlook worsens for Ukraine each day that the capital, Kiev, remains in unrest. The spotlight should not necessarily be on the European Union, or even perhaps Ukraine; Russia has acted as the catalyst here, and it is worth wondering at what cost the Kremlin will let the downward spiral continue in order to keep the Yanukovich Administration on their side of the economic "iron curtain."