From: Benjamin Hicks
Columbus
The West, led by the United States, claims to care about Russia invading the sovereign state of Ukraine, but pre-invasion actions show otherwise. The threat of sanctions against Russia never worked as an effective deterrent to prevent the Ukraine invasion. In fact, the threat of sanctions was a bulletin letting Russia know that any hostile incursion into Ukraine’s sovereign territory would not be met with western military resistance.
This comes in stark contrast to periods in history when the United States stood up for countries abroad as their liberty was threatened by authoritarian regimes. Recall President John F Kennedy’s inaugural address in which he stated, “we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty.” The Russian invasion of Ukraine has demonstrated that these words no longer ring true. The United States’ lack of meaningful action to prevent Russia invading Ukraine sends a message to other countries threatened by authoritarian regimes. The message is that those countries are on their own when it comes to defending freedom and democracy abroad. Unfortunately, the authoritarian regimes that tend to threaten democratic values dwarf the countries they prey on in terms of military and economic strength. This offers those threatened nations little hope that they can remain independent and autonomous when faced with such threats. It also sends a message to any would be dictators of what the consequences, or lack thereof, will be if they chose to invade free democratic nations.
Some have claimed that Vladimir Putin is not a rational actor, and so a strong consolidated western front would not have prevented his actions. Those people misunderstand the framework through which Putin makes decisions. Putin is not concerned with the consequences that mere sanctions will have on Russia’s citizens. The effect of economic sanctions will impact the lower and middle classes in Russia far more than Russia’s oligarchy and ruling class. Ordinary Russian citizens will feel the effect of these sanctions in terms of availability and cost of goods, access to basic necessities, and general economic prosperity. These effects will feel very real as they effect people’s day to day lives. However these effects do not enter into Putin’s calculus. He is too far removed from this aspect of life, as are those in his decision making circles. Putin seeks to project Russia’s military power and reestablish Russia as superpower comparable to that of its status during the Cold War. This conquest and expansion of the Russian empire will solidify Putin’s legacy as a strong ruler. This is what matters to Vladimir Putin, not the prosperity of the Russian people as a whole.
Russia has successfully divided the countries that might have united to oppose it. The West has shown that free democratic nations stand alone, not together, when facing threats to democracy in the twenty-first century.
