Tag Archives: War

The War Is Lost—Now Europe Pays the Price

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U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has clearly outlined the three concrete conditions agreed upon by Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin to initiate negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine: no NATO membership for Ukraine—a demand Russia has made since the Munich Conference of 2007, when Putin explicitly stated that this would be an unbreachable red line. No presence of American troops in Ukraine. No application of NATO’s Article 5 and no NATO peacekeeping mission in Ukraine. The latter two conditions seem self-evident, considering that the war erupted precisely to prevent the presence of NATO forces on Ukrainian territory.

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Even before Trump, the world had rejected U.S. unipolarism

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The Biden administration will be remembered for creating the conditions for the return of a devastating war in the heart of Europe, its unconditional support for Israel, and, last but not least, for escalating the economic war with China. The Doomsday Clock, managed by atomic scientists and symbolically counting the time separating us from nuclear apocalypse midnight, has moved from 100 to 90 seconds since Biden’s inauguration. Climate catastrophe is advancing inexorably; the United States has increased oil and gas production. However, the most critical front remains Ukraine, where two nuclear powers face off. The war, provoked by NATO’s eastward expansion—as is now evident to everyone—appears to be entering its final stage. The Trump administration will have to manage an epic defeat, this time not against an asymmetric enemy like in Vietnam or Afghanistan, but against a major power.

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Voting against the pipers of the atomic apocalypse.

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Noam Chomsky, one of the most insightful living intellectuals, gave the most striking definition of the war in Ukraine: “The reason for insisting on calling it an ‘unprovoked invasion’ is that it is well known that it was provoked. In fact, there have been extensive provocations dating back to the 1990s. This is not just my opinion, but the opinion of almost all top-level US diplomats and anyone with open eyes can see it, whether they are hawks or doves, anyone who knows something about it. Of course, the fact that it was provoked does not imply that it is justified; these are two different things.”

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If you want peace, you don’t prepare for war, but for negotiations.

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According to an ancient aphorism attributed to Aeschylus, “in war, truth is the first casualty”: nothing could be truer as we have experienced in the last two years, during which the falsehoods propagated by politicians and mainstream media are countless. If reality can be distorted to convince the public of the righteousness of certain political choices—a phenomenon to which we have become accustomed—the problem becomes dramatic and dangerous when the ruling class loses all connection with the facts and becomes a victim of its own self-delusion.

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NATO still barks at the gates of Russia.

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The war drums are beating. Rob Bauer, Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, stated that “we must realize that living in peace is not a given. And that is why we (NATO) are preparing for a conflict with Russia.” In the United Kingdom, the Defense Minister and the Chief of the Armed Forces speak of the current generation as the “pre-war” generation because “the era of peace dividends is over.” The rhetoric mounting is grave and seamlessly entering everyday narrative. When I read comments supporting the notion of “if you want peace, prepare for war,” I am reminded of the famous poem by Trilussa, “L’eroe ar caffè,” the one who “flattens mountains, breaks, shoots, kills, ‘for me – he mutters – there’s a road’ alone and dips his biscuits in the cup.” If these pathetic characters are popping up like mushrooms in public discourse, it’s not by chance: the militarization of society proceeds at the hands of an elite with no legitimacy to do so, but knows it’s the only way to maintain a power increasingly delegitimized every day.

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Why hasn’t Russia collapsed?

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On February 24, 2022, Russian troops and tanks crossed the Ukrainian border. The main response from the West was the imposition of the toughest and most comprehensive economic sanctions in a century, equivalent to a full-scale economic war. One of the generals in this war was Mario Draghi, who stated in June 2022, “Sanctions work. The International Monetary Fund predicts that this year the cost to the Russian economy will be equivalent to 8.5 percentage points of GDP. Time has revealed and is revealing that these measures are increasingly effective.” According to Enrico Letta (March 2022), “the sanctions are very tough and are hurting Russia badly, which is close to default.” These predictions were contradicted by what happened afterward. Armed conflicts are often determined by economic power, while the intricate interaction between history and politics plays a crucial role in shaping a nation’s economy and how it responds in times of crisis. So why didn’t the Russian economy collapse? This is an embarrassing question that has been removed from public debate because a year ago experts reassured that sanctions would quickly bring to its knees a country considered “a gas station with nuclear weapons.” It doesn’t seem that this view of Russia has proven to be correct. As an observer, I’ve formed an opinion.

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