During a panel discussion in June of 2014 – four months after the toppling of Viktor Yanukovych in Ukraine – Professor John Mearsheimer was asked whether Ukrainians have a right to choose to join the West. His emphatic answer, which provoked laughter from his fellow panellists, was: “No, they don’t.”
This gets to the very heart of the current crisis. Those who deny the West bears any responsibility insist that we must uphold the principle that every state is sovereign and can enter whichever alliances it chooses. Now, this sounds very appealing. But there’s one major problem with it.
The problem is that the US – by far the most important Western country – has blatantly and repeatedly violated this principle over the last five decades. Hence if the West wants to make any kind of normative argument against Russia’s aggression, it has to explain why it doesn’t hold itself to the same standards.
This point was made eloquently by Robert Wright in a recent essay titled ‘In Defense of Whataboutism’. As he notes:
Exercises in whataboutism force people to mount what Singer calls “a disinterested defense of one’s conduct.” They have to articulate a general rule—or a general exception to a general rule—that applies to everyone in comparable circumstances.
Since there’s no “general rule” under which America’s foreign policy would be justified but Russia’s foreign policy would not be, the West cannot mount a “disinterested defence” of its conduct. (I suppose certain countries like Iceland might be able to, but the US – the only one that really matters – certainly can’t.)
So the West doesn’t actually uphold the principle that every state is sovereign and can enter whichever alliances it chooses. Once this is established, the question arises, ‘Is Ukraine one of those states that can’t enter whichever alliances it chooses?’
The Russians believe it is, and have made clear that Ukraine joining the West is an absolute red line for them. How should the West have dealt with this ultimatum?
Well, the policy it did adopt was to ignore Russia’s ultimatum, and actively support the movement that overthrew Ukraine’s pro-Russian government in 2014. This instantly led to Putin annexing Crimea, and the outbreak of the war in Donbass. Is there anything it could have done instead?
Yes, it could have adopted the policy John Mearsheimer put forward, which is based on accepting that Ukraine is one of those states that can’t enter whichever alliances it chooses.
His proposal comprised three main elements: ruling out NATO membership for Ukraine; funding an economic rescue plan, together with Russia and the IMF; and insisting that Ukraine respect minority rights, especially minority language rights. (Note: these were abolished by the country’s Constitutional Court in 2018.)
Now, it’s possible that Mearsheimer’s policy would simply not have worked – that even if it had been followed, we’d still be where we are today. However, the policy seems far more sensible, and far more likely to work, than the one Western leaders decided to pursue instead.
As he noted prohphetically in 2015, “The West is leading Ukraine down the primrose path and the end result is that Ukraine is going to get wrecked.”
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I wonder if it’s possible for any such organisation not to turn into a runaway train of self seeking pursuit of power and money
Many religions have accumulatrd unbridled, overwhelming power in the past. For example, the Catholic Church in Europe for many centuries seemed almost omnipotent.
Something over time diminished its power but not before an awful lot of harm and misery was inflicted (together with some good, I suppose).
Things look pretty bleak to me as I think we are entering an era of despotism that will almost certainly persist for at least the rest of my life.
That some Ethiopian guy with huge power ambitions is going to potentially have power over me in a non insignificant way is just very chilling.
I think the worst of it will come after I am gone. I think our civilisation will hobble on for a few more generations before final collapse into awfulness and hopefully a rebirth.
We are not looking at generations tof we are looking at perhaps the next 15 – 20 years.
You may be right. In a few generations white people will be in a minority in Europe and I don’t think there’s any road back from there.
Agreed
Who within the W.H.O. is known for pushing for the ‘hair on fire’ approach to activity?
‘There is, however, one message that must cut through: we have got to be quicker and do better when it comes to novel disease outbreaks.’
‘Knowledge must be shared in hours and days, not weeks, and knowledge must lead to action.’
‘I have worked in infectious diseases for 25 years and knew every day mattered, because of exponential spread. I knew we had to start running for our lives with the vaccine.’
And why?
‘Stephane urgently needed cash’
This is the venal little so and so, Jeremy Farrar, who caused the panic over a common cold coronavirus in the first place, claiming it was, essentially, similar to SARS but easier to transmit!:
‘It is not SARS. The virus is in a similar family as SARS but this looks different … and the difference is probably it is easier to pass between human beings. I think we can expect many more cases in China and many more cases in other parts of the world.’
‘Davos changed everything’ (!)
https://covid19.public-inquiry.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/21180503/INQ000208834.pdf
Farrar at Davos!
He is now chief scientist at the W.H.O. on a six figure tax free stipend….and this is, no doubt, where all the silly pettiness, petulance (and, no doubt, stamping of tiny little feet) is coming from also.
Oh for heaven’s sake!
Farrar is far more dangerous than “the stamping of tiny little feet.” He is a direct and murderous threat to humanity.
According to investgative journalist Alex Newman (see video link below), built into this Pandemic Treaty power grab by the WHO is the same system that is being used by the Climate Change Scam Gang to push their agenda … the ‘Conference of the Parties’ system or COP.
So this ‘watering down’ of the Pandemic Treaty will not last for too long. The WHO plus Billy Goat Gates plus Big Pharma will convene a Conference of the Parties whenever they want and declare that the treaty isn’t working or isn’t strong enough or isn’t wide ranging enough and they will push through ammendments for an even bigger power grab.
(Having dealt with this WHO issue, Mr Newman goes on to highlight what the UN is planning for us in the upcomming UN General Assembly in September. Something called ‘The Summit for the Future’. This is a major power grab by the UN led, of course, by Comrade Ayatollah Guterres).
https://rumble.com/v4qgrbh-un-plans-tyrannical-future-for-you-alex-newman.html
I am confused. There are those who say there never was a “covid” virus. It was just a normal seasonal cold/flu that killed the normal,number of vulnerable and elderly. And that the hoax virus was used to implement lockdowns, school and business closures, stay at home mandates, masks, ventilator use, midazolam and morphine and the icing on the cake, the “covid” poisonous jabs that rewarded all those involved in its manufacturing, distribution, and administration. Big pharma, scientists, doctors, all health care institutions and the wonderful politicians in our governments who pushed HARD to ensure everyone took the vaxx. What a sick world we live in now.