Russia’s ShameBy Rod Dreher
February 24, 2022
Ijust woke up here in Budapest to news that Russia has invaded Ukraine. This is both extremely sad and utterly contemptible. As much as I think (and have said) both that Russia’s desire to keep Ukraine out of NATO was understandable and just, and that I reject the Blob’s knee-jerk bellicosity towards Russia, under no circumstances is what Russia has done overnight acceptable. There were diplomatic ways out of this impasse, but Putin chose not to take them.
Oddly enough, I bet that a lot of the world back in 2003 felt the way that I do this morning watching Russian troops march into Ukraine: helpless anger at a great power imposing itself on flimsy pretenses in a war of choice on a country that can barely defend itself — all in an attempt to remake the geopolitical order. Yet as angry as I am at Russia today, I am not going to be goaded into supporting US policies that widen the war. Nor does it make US and NATO policy towards Russia prior to now retrospectively correct. Today’s events in Ukraine bring to a definite end the post-Cold War interregnum. Nobody can possibly be pleased with the way things have turned out.
I want to share with you an analysis I found striking. It comes from the right-wing European commentator Niccolo Soldo, from his Substack. Soldo, who filed the piece on the eve of the Russian invasion, believes that what’s happening in Ukraine is a victory for both the US and Russia.
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Despite assurances to the contrary, NATO is not a ‘defensive organization’. Even though American memories are short, people elsewhere remember the bombing campaign against Serbia, and the removal of Gaddafi from power in Libya. What NATO is in fact is the military arm of US hegemony, a hegemony that has seen it expand eastwards through Europe, right up to Russia’s very own borders.
“Don’t individual states reserve the right to enter into alliances with those they see fit, Niccolo?” Of course they do. But not all countries are islands, and most countries have neighbours. And not all neighbouring states are created equal, and they have their own national security concerns and interests. This is the case with Russia.
Russia has been invaded several times from the west since Napoleon first crossed the border to enter Imperial Russian soil in 1812. Every time since, western powers have been forced out, but have left behind devastation in their wake. This explains why Russia has sought buffers to its west ever since, with the largest buffer being its puppet regimes in eastern and central Europe during the Cold War.
NATO, originally set up to counter the USSR’s expansion into Europe, was left without a raison d’etre after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the USSR. Nevertheless, it pressed on eastwards, and thanks to the CIA and MI6, effected Colour Revolutions to put into power friendly regimes that sought NATO membership in places like Tbilisi and Kiev. Where Colour Revolutions weren’t necessary due to historical grievances against Russia, NATO missile systems pointed at Russia have been set up (Romania and Poland).
For Russia, the nightmare scenario of dismemberment from the west is now tangible. You may disagree with their perspective, but what is important is HOW they view the situation. If you can’t understand their views, it is therefore impossible to talk to them, unless you are only willing to lecture to them or threaten them.
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Source:
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/russia-ukraine-shame/
