RUSSIAN aggression in Ukraine would not have taken place if the US and its allies had not pursued a liberal enlargement policy of the North-Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
If only they had considered the national and strategic interests of Russia. A worldview based on realism rather than liberalism might have prevented the Russian aggression.
With the end of the Cold War, the US and its allies believed in the logic of liberal expansion, the supremacy of the market forces and others.
This meant that the former Soviet republics became the target of incorporation into the European Union (EU), and at some point in NATO.
In the earlier years after the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia was too weak to counter the US’ moves in eastern Europe.
However, in the last two decades or so, with the ascension of Russian president Vladimir Putin, Western enlargement took on an ominous turn.
In fact, a few US State Department officials have warned their leaders that unlimited expansion, both economically and militarily, would destabilise Russia.
However, in Francis Fukuyama’s “End of Ideology” phase, no US leader took note that liberalism, the spreading of Western liberal ideology might pose balance of power problems, particularly for Russia.
As the US and its allies subtly encroached on former Soviet areas, alarm bells went off in Russia.
The failure of the West to engage and reassure Russia about its enlargement plan was the primary cause of the present tensions. Russia had repeatedly asked the US and its allies for treaties to assure its security.
However, such pleas fell on deaf ears of the Western leaders, including US presidents.
As for Ukraine, it might have gotten Independence in 1991, but the country was a sensitive spot for Russia. Past invasions of Russia took place via Ukraine.
It was in the larger economic and military interest of Russia that Ukraine existed as a buffer zone between the West and Russia.
But Western nations’ idealistic liberal pursuit did not care about Russia’s national interest. Since Russia was still suffering from the after effects of the Soviet Union’s collapse, the West thought it was doing Eastern European countries a favour by slowly getting them to join NATO.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US and its allies have poured in billions of dollars to resuscitate the economies of the former states of the Soviet Union.
It was not just an altruistic move, but with the ultimate desire to weaken the last remaining bastion of Western opposition, Russia.
The Orange Revolution woke up Putin
The straw that broke the camel’s back was when US sponsored the removal of then-Ukraine president in 2014.
In the immediate aftermath of this US sponsored coup, tensions accelerated to the point of the Russian annexation of Crimea and fomenting a bloc in the eastern part of Ukraine, area of large Russian-speaking population.
There was a stark incongruence as how the US and its allies viewed the world order, which is quite different to Russia’s view.
While the US and its allies sought an unlimited liberal expansion into states that were once under the former Soviet Union, Russian view was based on realism—the West simply cannot expand into areas near the borders of Russia without understanding its security implications.
The Russians, having fought foreign invasions in the past, are not prepared for another invasion through Ukraine. If only the West had thought about the genuine concerns of Russia when attempts were made to install pro-Western leaders in Ukraine.
Leaders in Ukraine, without considering the consequences of moving into the Western orbit, alienated the Russians. If only they had maintained neutrality between the West and Russia.
The final attempt by Ukraine to seek membership in NATO was something not acceptable to Russians at all.
In essence, Russia can be blamed and condemned for invading Ukraine. At the same time, there is a need to understand the complex forces that brought about the invasion.
The unbridled social, economic and military expansion of the US and its allies were largely responsible for the present state of affairs.
Just imagine, if Russians were to establish military bases in Cuba, how do you think the US and its allies would react?
Can Russia say it is to defend the sovereignty of Cuba? It is just like how the US is constantly “needling “China by arming Taiwan.
For the US and its allies, encroaching on the rights of others is liberalism but when it comes to their security and defence, it is realism. – Feb 28, 2022
