ABSTRACT
The independent investigative reporter Robert Parry (2014m) wryly observed that: “the Ukraine case has been a curious example of US-backed ‘democracy promotion’ – overthrowing a democratically elected leader so a coup regime could impose a ‘very unpopular’ austerity plan on an already suffering population.” Parry’s view perhaps underestimated popular frustration with oligarchs and corruption in Yanukovych’s Ukraine (and of post-independent Ukraine generally) but highlighted US support for the coup and invited consideration of benefits that would accrue to financial elites from corralling Ukraine within the Western orbit. WMM coverage, still in naive “Arab Spring” mode was deceptive as to the broader political and economic stakes and consequent risks – at public expense – of war and financial collapse.
