U.S. Involvement in Ukraine Election Crisis Could Trigger a New Cold War with Russia

Interview with Stephen F. Cohen, professor of Russian Studies at New York University, conducted by Scott Harris

For weeks, the U.S. media has featured extensive coverage of the massive protests in Kiev, dubbed the "Orange Revolution," which resulted in Ukraine's Supreme Court invalidating the Nov. 21 presidential election after allegations of widespread fraud. The West's favored candidate, Viktor Yushchenko, will now face Viktor Yanukovich, backed by Moscow, in a new election scheduled for Dec. 26. Yuschenko claims that he was poisoned by dioxin in a failed pre-election assassination attempt that left his face disfigured.

But while the Bush administration charged that Russian President Vladimir Putin had improperly interfered in the tainted November election that had initially seen Yanukovich declared the winner, the U.S. was itself deeply involved in Ukraine's political process. British and U.S. press reports indicate that the U.S. spent more than $65 million in support of Ukranian opposition groups and the underwriting of an exit poll used to discredit the election results. Although the U.S. says it did not directly fund candidates -- but rather supported groups working for democracy -- some members of the Ukrainian parliament are demanding an investigation.

The U.S. State Department has been selectively engaged in similar efforts in other nations once part of, or allied with the former Soviet Union such as Georgia, Balarus and Serbia. Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with with Stephen F. Cohen, professor of Russian Studies and History at New York University, who examines U.S. involvement in Ukraine's election and the concern that tensions with Moscow there could trigger a new cold war.

Stephen Cohen's latest book is titled, "Failed Crusade, America and the Tragedy of Post-Communist Russia" published by Norton.

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