{"id":8277,"date":"2022-07-04T16:26:31","date_gmt":"2022-07-04T16:26:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lonecandle.com\/?p=8277"},"modified":"2022-07-04T16:26:31","modified_gmt":"2022-07-04T16:26:31","slug":"russias-aggressive-war-illustrates-importance-of-us-foreign-policy-ukrainians-are-latest-victims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/?p=8277","title":{"rendered":"Russia\u2019s Aggressive War Illustrates Importance of US Foreign Policy: Ukrainians Are Latest Victims"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cAs has been oft detailed in recent days<\/a>, the U.S. and European states blithely ignored multiple assurances made to both the Soviet Union and Russia that NATO would not be expanded up to their borders. The allies also demonstrated their willingness to ignore Moscow\u2019s expressed security interests with the coercive dismemberment of Serbia, \u201ccolor revolutions\u201d in Tbilisi and Kyiv, and especially support for the 2014 street putsch against Ukraine\u2019s elected, Russo\u2010friendly president.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether such actions should<\/em> have bothered Moscow isn\u2019t important. They did, and perceptions are what matter. In this case, perception was reality. Indeed, Washington would never have accepted equivalent behavior by Russia in the Western hemisphere \u2014 marching the Warsaw Pact or Collective Security Treaty Organization up to America\u2019s borders, backing a coup in Mexico City or Ontario, and inviting the new government to join the military alliance. The response in Washington would have been explosive hysteria followed by a tsunami of demands and threats. There would have been no sweet talk about the right of other nations to decide their own destinies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

True, this might not be the only factor influencing Putin\u2019s decision on war. He has articulated strong, though distorted, views of Ukrainian nationhood and Kyiv\u2019s proper relations to Russia. However, security concerns have always loomed largest. He and other officials criticized NATO expansion early, when the alliance began its move eastward. Most famously, he raised the issue in his talk to the 2007 Munich Security Conference. His position reflected Russia\u2019s perspective but was serious both in substance and delivery.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf allied behavior was not a sufficient cause for Moscow\u2019s invasion, it certainly was a necessary cause. Putin might believe Ukraine should be part of Russia, but for the last 22 years did not attempt to conquer the country. His more limited attacks in 2014 were triggered by the Western\u2010backed ouster of a friendly government. Whatever Putin\u2019s view of reconstituting the Soviet Union, after two decades all he has managed to do is retake Crimea and extend Russian influence over the Donbass, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia. A repeat of Adolf Hitler he certainly is not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again, this does not excuse Moscow\u2019s latest conduct, which is grotesque, criminal, and immoral. However, it offers a terrible reminder that U.S. intervention has consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cthe Russo\u2010Ukraine war adds another example to Uncle Sam\u2019s history of foreign policy malpractice. The conflict is not strictly America\u2019s fault, since Moscow made an independent decision to attack its neighbor. For that, the Putin government bears responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the U.S. and its European allies set the stage for the war, engaging in behavior that clearly yet needlessly antagonized Russia. For contributing to the horror now engulfing Ukraine, Washington should be held responsible and its officials held accountable. Otherwise more people will keep dying because of Uncle Sam\u2019s foolish hubris.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.cato.org\/commentary\/russias-aggressive-war-illustrates-importance-us-foreign-policy-ukrainians-are-latest#<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cAs has been oft detailed in recent days, the U.S. and European states blithely ignored multiple assurances made to both the Soviet Union and Russia that NATO would not be expanded up to their borders. The allies also demonstrated their willingness to ignore Moscow\u2019s expressed security interests with the coercive dismemberment of Serbia, \u201ccolor revolutions\u201d in Tbilisi and Kyiv, and especially support for the 2014 street putsch against Ukraine\u2019s elected, Russo\u2010friendly president.<\/p>\n

Whether such actions should have bothered Moscow isn\u2019t important. They did, and perceptions are what matter. In this case, perception was reality. Indeed, Washington would never have accepted equivalent behavior by Russia in the Western hemisphere \u2014 marching the Warsaw Pact or Collective Security Treaty Organization up to America\u2019s borders, backing a coup in Mexico City or Ontario, and inviting the new government to join the military alliance. The response in Washington would have been explosive hysteria followed by a tsunami of demands and threats. There would have been no sweet talk about the right of other nations to decide their own destinies.<\/p>\n

True, this might not be the only factor influencing Putin\u2019s decision on war. He has articulated strong, though distorted, views of Ukrainian nationhood and Kyiv\u2019s proper relations to Russia. However, security concerns have always loomed largest. He and other officials criticized NATO expansion early, when the alliance began its move eastward. Most famously, he raised the issue in his talk to the 2007 Munich Security Conference. His position reflected Russia\u2019s perspective but was serious both in substance and delivery.\u201d<\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

\u201cIf allied behavior was not a sufficient cause for Moscow\u2019s invasion, it certainly was a necessary cause. Putin might believe Ukraine should be part of Russia, but for the last 22 years did not attempt to conquer the country. His more limited attacks in 2014 were triggered by the Western\u2010backed ouster of a friendly government. Whatever Putin\u2019s view of reconstituting the Soviet Union, after two decades all he has managed to do is retake Crimea and extend Russian influence over the Donbass, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia. A repeat of Adolf Hitler he certainly is not.<\/p>\n

Again, this does not excuse Moscow\u2019s latest conduct, which is grotesque, criminal, and immoral. However, it offers a terrible reminder that U.S. intervention has consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

\u201cthe Russo\u2010Ukraine war adds another example to Uncle Sam\u2019s history of foreign policy malpractice. The conflict is not strictly America\u2019s fault, since Moscow made an independent decision to attack its neighbor. For that, the Putin government bears responsibility.<\/p>\n

However, the U.S. and its European allies set the stage for the war, engaging in behavior that clearly yet needlessly antagonized Russia. For contributing to the horror now engulfing Ukraine, Washington should be held responsible and its officials held accountable. Otherwise more people will keep dying because of Uncle Sam\u2019s foolish hubris.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[552,390,272,355,314,1545,411,315,311,619,158],"class_list":["post-8277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article-share","tag-conflict","tag-diplomacy","tag-foreign-affairs","tag-foreign-policy","tag-international-relations","tag-invasion","tag-policy","tag-russia","tag-ukraine","tag-united-states","tag-war"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8277"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8277\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8278,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8277\/revisions\/8278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}