Why have we done nothing in Ukraine?
Because it benefits regime interests to keep the crisis simmering for now.
Why have we done nothing in Ukraine?
This is a question that you’ll still hear from time to time.
Barring the fact that Ukraine is now out of the media cycle—though, of course, if COVID showed us anything it’s that the regime can manufacture media cycles for both corporate and social media—this is quite a legitimate question.
After all, we have reports of both mass murder of civilians and the deployment of chemical weapons. These are the things that just aren’t supposed to happen in our “civilized” era of “democracy” and “freedom.” Of course, democracy and freedom gave us the second World War, was one side in the First World War, and in both cases there was the use of chemical weapons and massive loss of civilian life.
Civilian casualties are not unique to democracy, but we never saw millions killed for the sake of their country’s sins before democracy. But if you were interested in reading about the catastrophic effects of democracy, I could suggest Democracy: The God that Failed by Hoppe. You don’t have to agree with his prescriptions and philosophy, but his historical analysis is strictly factual.
Rather, as a political realist, I want to look at the potential reasons why we aren’t going to war over the crisis in Ukraine. I’ve ordered these in more or less the order of likelihood, though I wouldn’t be surprised by any of them being the case and I wouldn’t bet much money on a particular option. I think there’s between 20-10% chance that each of these is the reason why, and more than one might be the case.
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