Ukraine once again finds itself caught between major forces to the west in Europe and to the east in Russia.
Fortunately, this time the battle is over economic relations, rather than military domination, but the origin of the fight for Ukraine remains the same old song.
Last week, President Viktor Yanukovych turned his back on a proposed deal that would have seen Ukraine forge closer economic relations with the European Union. Yanukowych is worried the national economy will be hit hard by trade losses from Russia if he were to sign the deal. Government officials stressed it's not if, but when, the president will sign the trade pact, calling Yanukovych's current hesitation a "timeout."
Protesters took to the streets across the country in anger over the president's inaction and, last weekend in the capital Kiev, were met with police officers, sparking violent clashes between the two. According to the Associated Press, protesters currently occupy the city administration building and are blocking access to other government buildings. A court has told the protesters to stand down by Monday and the police chief is vowing to act "decisively and harshly" if they don't get out by the deadline.
These tensions between which direction Ukrainians look to for present and future prosperity are old and go to the very core of Ukrainian identity.
Among some Ukrainians, their country is to Russia what Canada is to the United States. The shared history, culture, traditions and language, along with close economic and social ties, between Russia and Ukraine counts for far more than a new flirtation with Western Europe. History tells them that it was Russian armies that freed them from the Nazi death squads, which emptied entire villages, shipping the men off to slave factories back in Germany and murdering all of the women and children.
Furthermore, Ukrainians feel more connected to Moscow than they do with folks in Berlin, Paris or London. To these Ukrainians, rejecting Russia in favor of the Economic Union would be as ridiculous as Canada tearing up its free trade agreement with the United States in favour of closer economic ties with Russia, which lies just on the other side of the Arctic Ocean and the North Pole.
History is a double-edged sword, however, when it comes to Russia and Ukraine. Before Hitler, Stalin brought terror to Ukraine during the 1930s, starving millions and rounding up nearly a million more for extended stays in the Gulag, the notorious Soviet concentration camps.
A new generation of Ukrainians aren't looking backwards, however. Like many Canadians, the opportunity to prosper in a global market means trading both with old allies but with new partners. Canada looks west across the Pacific to massive Asian markets, while Ukraine also looks west, past Poland, to the large and powerful European Union.
One of the leaders of the pro-west Ukrainians is Vitali Klitschko, the reigning world heavyweight boxing champion, but his biography shows just how embedded Russia remains in Ukrainian affairs. Klitschko, like many Ukrainians, was brought up speaking Russian and he only learned his native tongue as an adult.
In the same way that Canadians would strongly oppose American intervention in Canada's international trade dealings with Asia, many Ukrainians are angry with what looks like continued Russian meddling. Closer economic relations would benefit Ukrainians with the side effect of decreasing Russia's influence over Ukraine.
To some, that's a sweet deal with a bonus and for others, that's biting the Russian hand that feeds.
Like the United States, Russia refuses to entertain talk of itself as an empire in decline and is campaigning hard to retain its influence over its cousins to the west.
Hopefully the current tensions in Ukraine over its future are resolved by discussion and political debate, not by violence and war.
