BLUF

This article argues that democratic governments need strong public support to stand up to aggressors—still, this support often only comes after public outrage and when there is a clear moral case for taking action.

Summary

This article by John Storey from The Strategist makes the following points:
  • There are similarities between Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union.
  • Both involved incorporating similar language/ ethnic groups.
  • Hitler, German-speaking WW1, demilitarised Rhineland, Austria and Czechoslovakian Sudetenland.
  • Putin, Russian speaking Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk.
  • Britain and France didn’t enforce the terms of the Versailles Treaty.
  • The US didn’t enforce the 1994 Budapest agreement under which Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons in return for border guarantees.
  • British Prime Minister Chamberlain caving in at Munich has long been blamed for encouraging Hitler and hence WW2, yet there wasn’t a strong enough reason for war.
  • Similarly, was resisting Russian aggression in largely Russian-speaking provinces worth the cost?

 

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References

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Weg Sources
Source The Strategist (ASPI):