Crimea Has a Right to Secede

by Gerard Emershaw

On March 11, Crimea declared its independence from Ukraine. Five days later over 90% of its people voted to secede from Ukraine and join Russia. President Obama has claimed that the Crimean vote “would never be recognized” by the United States because it violated the Ukrainian Constitution and because it was conducted under duress. It is odd that a person who was elected twice to be President would have so little regard for democracy. Would he accept it if foreign nations or even the American people decided not to recognize his election victories? One wonders if President Obama believes that the American Declaration of Independence may have been illegitimate because it possibly violated British law. One also wonders how the Crimean referendum was any different from supposedly “free” elections that have been conducted under American occupation in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan. Should the results of those elections be thrown out because they were conducted under duress created by American military presence.

Crimeans have a natural right to self-determination. In 1954 the Soviet Union gave Crimea to its satellite Ukraine. Approximately 60% of the 2 million Crimeans are Russian speakers. Imagine if President Obama decided to give a region of southern California, New Mexico, Arizona, or Texas to Mexico. Imagine that this gifted region had 2 million Americans in it and that 60% of these were native English speakers. Imagine that decades from now Mexico’s government becomes unstable and that a future American President sends in American troops to protect the citizens of this former American region. Suppose that these former Americans—who never voted to be Mexicans—conduct a vote to secede from Mexico and again become part of the United States. Should this be considered illegal if it violates the Mexican Constitution? Should it be considered illegitimate because it was done under the duress of American occupation?

It should come as no surprise that President Obama does not support Crimean secession. The President does not believe in federalism. He has shown himself to be anti-Tenth Amendment in every way. What is Obamacare if not one of the greatest pieces of anti-Tenth Amendment legislation in American history?

Secession—whether in the United States or elsewhere—is an important check and balance against centralized tyranny. It is an option which can be used in lieu of the “nuclear option” of armed revolution if regional rights are not respected. In essence, if self-determination is wrong for Crimeans, then it is also wrong for Americans. If Crimeans cannot protect themselves against the potential tyranny of the Ukrainian government, then Americans in the 50 states have no right to protect themselves against the tyranny of the central government in Washington.