A year after MH17: The lessons for Russia

Jul 17, 2015Ivan TsvetkovOPINION333510

If Russia wants the world to view it as a great power, it needs to do a
better job of assuming responsibility for its role in the MH17 disaster.

MH17 flight recovery team members talk to each as they are guarded by proRussian rebel fighter' in one of the areas of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17
plane crash in the village of Hrabove, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine Tuesday,
Nov. 11, 2014. Photo: AP
For a very different take read: "The MH17 tragedy has become a
geopolitical game"
The twelve months since the Malaysia Airlines MH17 catastrophe in the skies
over eastern Ukraine have shown that the price of political miscalculation in the
modern world is far greater than it was decades or centuries ago.
The tragedy has not been forgotten. An international investigation closely
monitored by the media is ongoing, and various options for bringing to justice
those responsible for the death of the 298 passengers and crewmembers are
being discussed. And that is despite the fact that almost no one remembers the
hundreds or even thousands of victims of armed conflict across Africa or the
Middle East, reports of which are a near daily occurrence.
To all appearances, it is not just that the victims of MH17 included many
Europeans, Australians and citizens of other developed countries. The site of
the tragedy, which until quite recently had been a peaceful, prosperous place,
far from any known hot spot, made what happened even more extraordinary.
The investigation into the incident, which has involved a variety of technical
experts, journalists and politicians representing different sides of the Ukrainian
conflict, has not only given rise to many versions of the tragedy, but also

underlined one very unpleasant fact for Russia. Until the armed conflict on its
borders dies down for good, with no sporadic flare-ups, it will be very difficult
for the country to assert its international reputation as a great power.
The most important criterion for membership of todays club of responsible
great powers is the ability to prevent armed conflict in ones immediate
vicinity. Success in the 21st century is measured not only in terms of GDP per
capita and level of technological development, but also the capacity to ensure
stability and security in ones zone of responsibility (extending, in the case of
the great powers, beyond state borders).
Russias alleged involvement in the MH17 disaster has done serious damage to
the countrys international image over the past year. The accusation has not
gone away despite the best efforts of counter-propaganda and public
diplomacy. The catastrophe has been used as symbolic confirmation of Russias
informational support for separatists in Eastern Ukraine, not to mention political
and military. In providing such assistance, Russia is undermining its international
positions, making them weak and vulnerable.
Failure to wash off even the most tenuous link to a tragedy that cost the lives
of several hundred innocent people can have extremely serious consequences in
todays world. It can, figuratively speaking, demote a country to the second
division of the global system, and no amount of past achievements, natural
resources or nuclear potential can prevent it.

Recommended: "History shows that the Malaysian air disaster will force
Russia to act"
The reality of the threat is evinced by the extreme caution shown by
international experts and politicians in their assessment of what happened. As
yet no data from U.S. reconnaissance satellites have been made public a fact
often cited by Russian propagandists as proof of Ukraines guilt, which the
United States is allegedly intent on concealing.
But it is far more likely that by withholding vital information, the United States
is covering not Ukraine, but Russia. In spite of everything, Washington does not
want to utterly and decisively humiliate the Kremlin and drive Russia into a
corner. Neither the United States nor Europe needs a gap in the global system
the size of one-fifth of the Earths land area.
The lesson that politicians need to draw from MH17 and its consequences is that
military methods in the modern world cannot be used to resolve international and
internal conflicts without the warring parties and their surroundings becoming
barbarized. It is foolish to hope that while heavy fighting rages in the towns
and cities of eastern Ukraine, politicians just a few hundred kilometers west or

east will feign adherence to the European choice or the equitable multipolar
world order. Thats not how it is, and the victims of MH17 will long serve as a
vivid reminder of that.
An honorable way out for Russia, as a great power, would be to stop the petty
blame game with Ukraine and to openly admit its indirect culpability for what
happened. Was it not Russias political and diplomatic miscalculations that
ultimately led to civil war and the shooting down of a civilian plane in a Russianspeaking area of a neighboring country?
Is it really worth pointing the finger of blame at the United States or some
other external force for fomenting the Ukrainian crisis? After all, such
incriminations confer a degree of omnipotence that the accused do not and
cannot possibly possess.
On the occasion of the first anniversary of the MH17 disaster, the Russian
authorities should think about some form of compensation for the families of
the victims, even if it sets the treasury back hundreds of millions of dollars. Its
possible that some of Russias foes might consider such compensation as an
admission of guilt, but in reality it would be confirmation of Russias ability as a
great power to assume responsibility for a tragedy that resulted partly from its
insufficiently coherent policy in a region that even official government
documents refer to as a zone of foreign policy interests.
The opinion of the author may not necessarily reflect the position of Russia
Direct or its staff.
333510
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MH17
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