The editors of the Wall Street Journal consider the implications of a Russian invasion of Ukraine:
It’s worth saying what should have been obvious long ago but was forgotten after decades of relative peace in Europe: A Russian invasion of Ukraine should mean the end to illusions about shared international values and norms. The era of authoritarian imperialism is back with a vengeance.
Russia and China want to topple the U.S.-led international order and create spheres of influence they dominate. They see a retreating America, consumed with internal division, and they are going to exploit it. Ukraine is only the first target. The world may soon recall with nostalgia the decades when American power and principles enforced global peace.
I will only say that you cannot coherently speak of a rules-based liberal international order while invading other countries at will without Security Council authorization or deploy armed drones in a dozen countries to assassinate people you don’t like. We’ve been doing that for 50 years under both Republican and Democratic presidents.
“or deploy armed drones in a dozen countries to assassinate people you don’t like.”
I think we have over used our drones to kill people but there is another side to this. How do we deal with countries who either actively protect or dont allow/help us with conventional policing against people who are either killing Americans or training people to do so? I dont think there is a good answer.
Steve
One good answer is to stop meddling in foreign countries. Bin Laden was quite clear that he wanted the US and Europe to stop their colonial occupation of the Middle East. He had good bona fides, as he actually fought the Russians in Afghanistan.
Of course, the biggest remaining colonial problem is Israel. There is no solution to that other than the dismantling of the Israeli state. The Jews came from Europe, Russia, and the US, and they will just have to come home.
I, for one, would welcome their talents and energy. We need high quality immigrants.
I agree that there’s no perfect answer, steve, but I also think that bob sykes has a point. Less meddling in foreign countries would help, too.
Also there’s a complication that does not seem to have occurred to our Powers-That-Be. Our human intelligence in many countries is sufficiently poor that they don’t know whether the people they’re going after are actually people that we don’t like or people their local informants don’t like. They’re not necessarily the same.
You might want to check your facts, bob. Many, many of Israels Jews came from Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Sudan, Egypt, Iraq, and Iran. Far more of today’s Jews are of Sephardic descent than of Ashkenazic descent. Only about 30% of Israelis are Ashkenazi.
I don’t think there’s a good solution to the problem that Israel poses but it’s not our problem to solve.
No sane person endorses our meddling. But let’s be honest. Putin’s invasion of a sovereign country is the biggest event in 50 years.