World News: Defending Ukraine, Saving Democracy

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Category: World News - Europe

Published on Wednesday, 23 March 2022 13:26

Written by Olivier Longhi

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is attempting to elicit the help and compassion of Western nations through his multiple interventions. But stung by their contradictions, these same nations see their democratic model attacked and adulterated by the realities of war.

After a month of the stark, brutal, realities of war, coupled with Putin's maniacal offensive, some would think that by addressing in turn the various parliaments of the Western democracies France, Italy, and the United States, Zelenskyy is trying to involve the nations concerned even more in the conflict that opposes him to Russia.

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Admittedly, it would be difficult not to see in the maneuver of the besieged Ukrainian president to arouse even more compassion that could result in a more than material commitment. But, in the end, it is most legitimate for a country attacked in this way to comply with this exercise. Yet behind the maneuver that it is difficult, even indecent, to reproach in view of the situation, hides, in reality, a double message.

First, a real cry for help from a nation bruised, bled white and in the grip of a mass exodus of its population. What will remain of Ukraine in the aftermath of this war, which seems to be taking the path of a long and costly conflict for all parties involved? A Chechen-style scenario is being decided today with the objective, for Moscow, of razing the country in order to establish a regime most favorable to Russia.

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Brutal and Savage Force

The second message delivered in filigree by the various allocutions of Volodymyr Zelensky is tinged with caution and a warning that is intended to be solemn: Our democracies are in danger and there are individuals on this Earth who believe only in brutal and savage force to the detriment of the regime. open and plural.

This message, grasped by all enlightened minds and whose meaning and scope have had the merit of waking up the European Union, has been translated into reality by the implementation of a set of unprecedented sanctions against an aggressor country, by the revival of the debate on security in Europe, by the need to rethink Sino-European relations and to put the United States back in the security game on the Old Man. 

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But will all these elements be enough to make Vladimir Putin tremble? The question remains unanswered because after a month of war, Russian forces are still present on Ukrainian soil, opposed to a heroic and fierce defense of Ukrainians led by a president erected to the rank of national or even international hero. A martyred country, Ukraine is also paying today years of wandering and indifference to Russia, long ostracized by nations and which claims in the most undue way its share.

Disabling Sanctions

By choosing violence, threat, war and abuse, Vladimir Putin knew that he would be ostracized from the concert of nations while also knowing that his influence on the energy issue would lock Western Europe into a cornelian dilemma.

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Any military involvement on the part of these same nations would de facto lead to a much larger-scale conflict whose outcome Europe cannot predict; the sanctions imposed on Russia, which are crippling for the latter, are not visibly to date sufficient to stop the Russian offensive and could eventually turn against those who took them. Triggering the war in Ukraine, in a tactical and twisted diplomatic game, Vladimir Poutine pushed the democratic Western nations in the face of their contradictions, their renunciations and their sometimes-voluntary blindness.

And meanwhile, Ukraine is crushed daily by incessant bombing.

Bio: Olivier Longhi has extensive experience in European history. A seasoned journalist with fifteen years of experience, he is currently professor of history and geography in the Toulouse region of France. He has held a variety of publishing positions, including Head of Agency and Chief of Publishing. A journalist, recognized blogger, editor, and editorial project manager, he has trained and managed editorial teams, worked as a journalist for various local radio stations, a press and publishing consultant, and a communications consultant.