The Tribune

With CHARLIE HARPER

IRREDENTISM is a ten-dollar word most often employed to describe the origins of wars and other geopolitical disagreements. Irredentism means political or popular movements whose members claim and seek to occupy territory on behalf of their nation that they consider “lost” to their nation, based on history or legend.

Irredentism seems to define pretty clearly the basis for Vladimir Putin’s invasion of and continuing attempt to wipe out Ukraine as a nation distinct from his own Russia. Fiona Hill, the English-born and naturalised US citizen who has advised US presidents Bush, Obama and Trump on Russia, Ukraine and Eastern Europe, has recalled that Putin once muttered to Bush that “Ukraine is not a nation.”

Hill has joined a chorus of other experienced experts in predicting that while Russia has seemingly abandoned its effort to capture Ukraine’s capital city of Kyiv and other parts of central and western Ukraine in favour of a sustained assault from the east, the Kremlin’s ambitions are unlikely to be satisfied by simply occupying territory in eastern Ukraine that is arguably as much or more Russian than Ukrainian anyhow.

But Hill points out that while Putin’s motives for his current land grab are rooted in irredentism, the effects of this war are much broader than territorial. In speaking with reporters in recent weeks, she has reminded readers and listeners that when Adolph Hitler and the Nazis broke their 1939 non-aggression pact with Moscow in 1941 less than two years after signing it, a key target was Ukraine – the “breadbasket of Europe”.

Hill points out that “Ukraine’s an enormous country, 40 million population, the largest country territorially in Europe except Russia, and one of the most fertile, important countries on earth for several centuries in terms of food production. Back in 1900, key Ukrainian Black Sea port city Odessa was one of the richest, fastest growing cities in Europe. And it was the centre of the whole European grain trade. And it’s continued to be that. People have just forgotten about that.”

“And now, the larger implications of this conflict are becoming evident. And they will have knock on effects. I mean, again, this is now planting season, and Ukrainian farmers are not out there in their fields, planting the grain that feeds much of the Eastern Hemishphere and keeps famine at bay.”

If the calculus in Ukraine’s self-defence now includes food for Africa and parts of Europe and the Middle East, the notion that this war is simply a “regional conflict” is profoundly debunked. Imagine the knock-on effects around the world, where hunger is already a huge problem in many areas and was becoming more dire even before Putin invaded.

No one needs to be reminded that food prices are rising, and it is not unreasonable to expect that this will continue. Add the cancellation of food supplies from Europe’s breadbasket and things will only get worse.

As if we needed another reason to wish for the rapid end of this savage invasion. But its end seems perhaps further away than ever. Putin’s paranoia about the West just got reinforced.

No longer relying on wishful thinking for their security are Sweden and Finland, whose studious neutrality has been a European political hallmark for 75 years and more. Earlier this week, both Nordic nations began moving to apply for membership in NATO, which could be routinely approved by the end of the summer.

Finland in particular must feel under extreme Russian threat. The Finns share an 830-mile-long border with Russia and fought a vicious winter war against Russian forces 80 years ago that cost both nations dearly but left Finland resolutely independent.

If you’re Putin and already paranoid about Western expansion and encirclement of your western border, how much more jittery and insecure must you now feel?

“We don’t intend to be isolated,” Putin said. “It is impossible to severely isolate anyone in the modern world - especially such a vast country as Russia. The war will continue until its full completion and the fulfillment of the tasks that have been set,” Putin said.

SOARING APPLICATIONS FROM OVERSEAS TO US COLLEGES

SOME recent data confirms what many Bahamian parents already suspected: Applications to US colleges and universities from overseas students have soared in the past two years. Results from the Common Platform, an online application that facilitates the often-complex American college admissions process, show that the number of international applicants to US institutions of higher learning has surged by 34 percent in the past two years.

Two reasons are cited for this dramatic increase, which is three times as great as the rate of increase in college applications by American high school students. The first is the easing of the COVID pandemic and associated relaxation of travel restrictions. That would be expected. The pandemic-related complications in securing foreign visas, including to the US, have been a source of real vexation for many people across the world.

The other principal reason may not be so readily apparent. That is the decision by most US colleges and universities to make optional the submission of results from the standardised ACT or SAT tests. These examinations, which have for decades been key admissions factors in the US, have had imputed value as a yardstick against which to measure students from America and all over the world without respect for the relative overall academic standards of their high schools.

The SAT and ACT are seen as levelers that can provide a reliable comparison of the readiness to handle academic work at American universities between college applicants from The Bahamas, Italy, Vietnam and the US, for example. The pandemic helped to spur a suspension of the SAT/ACT requirement in American higher education.

Bahamian parents often must find special classes or tutors for their high school children who aspire to attend American universities. Furthermore, while SAT/ACT authors try to minimize bias in their examinations, an American student has a natural advantage in that his or her curriculum often features course content more compatible with American-written standardised test questions.

The president of the International Association for College Admission Counseling said recently that “two major barriers to foreign students studying in the US have been lifted. One is the ability to leave their country and get visas. The other is the (ACT/ SAT) testing changes.”

New York University’s admissions officer said “we do think that being test optional has probably lowered a barrier for many students who might have a hard time getting to those tests.”

The test optional policy may be temporary and fade away as the pandemic recedes. A few universities have already rescinded their policies and resumed requiring the SAT/ACT, but most have left them in place at least for the next year.

It’s worth thinking about for families considering tertiary education for their children.