Expert: Putin Rhetoric "Like Hitler's"

WATERLOO, ON--(Marketwired - March 06, 2014) - Jaworsky's take:

"The new government in Ukraine is correct in stressing that Russia has no good reason to be seriously concerned about the well-being of ethnic Russians and Russian-speakers in Ukraine, including Crimea.

"The rhetoric used by Russia's President Putin to justify military intervention in Crimea, is in many respects similar to the rhetoric used by Hitler just before World War II to annex Czechoslovakia in 1938, and invade Poland in 1939.  In both cases Hitler claimed that these actions were taken to defend the rights of ethnic Germans in these countries.  President Putin is not Hitler, and his actions should not be regarded as the prelude to a wider conflict, but the rhetoric he has been using is very disturbing."

An assistant professor in the Department of Political Science, professor Jaworsky has a special interest in Crimea. He can speak on politics in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, and the politics of nationalism and ethnicity.

Attention broadcasters: Waterloo has facilities to provide broadcast quality audio and video feeds with a double-ender studio. Please contact us for more information.