Ukraine: “Let’s not be naive and imprudent to believe that arms will be enough to bring the solution, let’s strengthen diplomacy!” »
Ihe war that has been devastating Ukraine since February 24, 2022 has tipped Europe into another age. A time when weapons have already stolen the lives of thousands of children, women and men, civilians and soldiers. Its repercussions on food security, the economy and international relations are already alarming. For Europeans, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia is a terrifying act, which leaves us petrified. Our mental patterns inherit the wars of the XXe century, but who can say that the culpable procrastination of democracies in the face of mounting perils during the 1930s applies today? If history repeats itself, it is probably less in its bare facts (sometimes selectively mobilized to defend a point of view on the current war) than in the polarized state of mind that wins the belligerents and their allies.
We have learned from the past that any war is accompanied by the fatal mechanics of the regressive demonization of the adversary and the irreconcilable certainty, on each side of the trenches, of defending a “just” order. Our civil or military cemeteries and our mass graves attest that in the name of its highest values – brandished today in the media by those who will not perish at the front – humanity could sacrifice its youth and its prosperity. Should we really accept another carnage on European soil before rebuilding, sooner or later, on the ashes?
Seriously consider the next steps
Of course, in this war, the protagonists have nothing equivalent. If a consensus on older responsibilities seems out of reach today (and the urgency is not there), certain objective facts compel us. On February 24, 2022, a sovereign country was invaded, attacked and bombarded by its neighbor and is now exercising its right to self-defense. Set in a complex and explosive historical and geopolitical context, the current conflict exacerbates tensions that pre-existed and could cause a global explosion. Without considering the worst, nuclear accident or aggression (but how to exclude it entirely?), we fear that if the trajectory begun continues, countless Ukrainian and Russian civilians and soldiers (to limit ourselves to the current belligerents) are not yet massacred.
Since diplomatic efforts have so far been fruitless, the response of countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Sweden, Finland, Poland, the Baltic countries, Italy or Germany consists in deliver arms to Ukraine. This emergency option has made it possible to repel Russian aggression, but is now fueling a worrying dynamic of an increase in the lethality of the conflict and a risk of global escalation.
You have 67.88% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.