It looks
like bailouts aren't applied only to private companies. Ukraine has decided to
take a bailout offer from Russia, which has stirred up dissension between the
European Union and Ukraine's political leaders. Western authorities were
offering an olive branch to Ukraine to join the European Union. But what's most
interesting is how this decision affects Ukraine’s image in the eyes of the world. Russia, of course,
approves of Ukraine’s actions, but the West now views the country with growing
mistrust.
Ukraine
was part of Russia's Iron Curtain back in the days of the Cold War, and many in
the country have not forgotten that era. Numerous Ukrainians protested
the bailout, seeing it as a return of Russia's sphere of influence in the
region. Their concern is warranted given the substantial evidence that Russia's
de facto leader Vladimir Putin is seeking to create a coalition government of
his own to challenge the economic and political might of the European Union and
the United States. Ukrainian citizens want to join with the European Union for
the sake of trying to fix their economy and their political system. They view
their government as largely corrupt and feel Russia may have pressured the
Ukrainian government into accepting the bailout.
But the
situation with Ukraine is part of a bigger undesirable picture: Russia versus
the world. Many countries view Russia negatively thanks largely to Putin's
attempts to control his people through methods that harken back to the militant
and dehumanizing practices of the Soviet Union. Putin insists Russia is just
trying to maintain its influence and create a buffer zone between their country
and potential 'enemies.’ In the process, they have destroyed their image
abroad.
Neither
the Ukraine nor Russia have stellar reputations in the West right now, but with
reformation in policy and proper media coverage, they still have a chance of
gaining the respect they so desperately want. If you or your organization is
being seen in an overbearingly negative light, you may want to look to Centel Media™ for assistance. We are the
leading online reputation management firm today and one of our many areas of
specialization deals with negative imagery. We have products which are designed
to suppress negative criticism from articles, images, reviews, and video. We believe that every business and individual
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by others. We will give you the best options available to maintain the way you
are viewed by the rest of the world.
Jonathan
Wong,
Creative
Writer,
Chris
MacEachern,
Editor,