Several major wars are going on right now in the world today which have seen over 10,000 deaths in the last year:
- Israeli-Hamas war
- Russian Invasion of Ukraine
- Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
- Myanmar Civil War
- Al Qaeda Insurgency in the Maghreb
- War in Sudan
There are other more minor wars in the world, but these are the major points of conflict.
I have written several articles about the Israeli-Hamas war. I believe the reasons behind the conflict are numerous and complicated. The only solution given Hamas’ financial resources outside of the territory is a ceasefire and the provision of services and food to the Palestinians.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is an ongoing conflict which is due to borders which were set by the Russians in the 20th century, and how the Azeri government is a dictatorship. There is only one side here that is not violating international law, and that is Armenia. This is complicated because Armenia is propped up by the Russians since Turkey is part of NATO. This is a rare but not unique example where a NATO member is on the wrong side of history. It also is more complex because the fighting is in Nagorno-Karabakh, an autonomous region of Azerbaijan that is not recognized by any state.
The Myanmar Civil War has been ongoing since independence from the United Kingdom. The 1962 coup d’etat replaced the democracy with a military dictatorship which lasted until 2011 when a democracy was reinstated. In 2021 there was another coup d’etat and the military is currently under control of the country. In this case, the only reasonable position is to oppose Tatmawdaw which deposed a democratically elected government.
The al Qaeda insurgency in the Maghreb is due to a constant flood of money supporting al Qaeda, and weak state institutions in the Maghreb. Until Mali, Niger, and Chad have an improvement in their quality of government they will always be at risk of civil war.
The War in Sudan can be explained by weak institutions and the fact that until 2019 it was a dictatorship under Omar al-Bashir. It has been only 4 years since Sudan started to democratize, and the economic issues facing the country are severe. On top of that, their current government is under military leadership. It is going to be a long time until Sudan can develop unless there is significant foreign aid. It is a true tragedy.
All of these conflicts are primarily internal conflicts. There is usually foreign aid involved to at least one side, but they are not from organized armies from states spilling across international borders.
Then there is the War in Ukraine. The War in Ukraine is the only truly international conflict between two states where fatalities are over 10k. It is the only true land grab invasion by a hostile foreign enemy power. It is not from a rebellious region of an authoritarian state like Azerbaijan. It is not a situation like Gaza, where despite being trained in political science I am not sure what word best describes Gaza. Bantustan might come the closest. It is not like Burma because it is not a military coup, and Ukraine has had free and fair elections for 20 years now. Ukraine has corruption issues, but not nearly as bad as the other countries on this list, and they have been making incredible strides toward democratization over the last decade.
The situations in the other 5 regions are sad and distressing, but there are a multitude of reasons for all of them, so there will be complicated solutions to each. Ukraine is different because of the blatant aggression by the Russian government against the Ukrainian people. It is not complicated. The most similar war I can think of to Ukraine was the invasion of Poland by Russia and Germany in 1939. Ukraine did nothing wrong. Ukraine was actively doing what it needed to do to move towards eventual NATO and EU accession.
There is no valid reason to defend the actions of Russia, even fewer than there were in 1939. The reason Germany invaded Poland in 1939 was to reclaim its territory which was transferred from Germany to Poland in the Treaty of Versailles. The invasion of Poland in 1939 is one of the closest examples I can think of to what is happening right now.
But even the argument of reclaiming territory doesn’t work in terms of Ukraine. Ukrainians and Russians are different people. There was no forced movement of people on the scale of the post-World War I when the Soviet Union broke up. The people of Ukraine chose independence from an authoritarian state in 1991. Ukraine and Russia speak different languages. They have different value systems, and this can be easily seen in their systems of government and how they rank on every freedom index in the world. The invasion of Ukraine by Russia is so patently absurd, that it is less absurd than if the United States were to invade Canada, which I do not support. Unlike Ukraine and Russia, the United States and Canada share values. We are both democracies, we are members of NATO, and we are former British colonies. While Ukraine and Russia have a shared history, Russia has veered deeper into authoritarianism, and Ukraine has been becoming more democratic since independence. Even if their similarity score on objective lists may be similar, their trajectories are quite opposite. Most importantly, Ukrainians have clearly shown they do not want to be Russian. End of story.
The invasion of Ukraine by Russia is one of the most patently absurd and pointless invasions we have seen in a very long time. The other invasion by Russia, the invasion by Georgia is tied to it in how absurd it was. Even if Ukraine were to be annexed by Russia it would be a rebellious province until they regain independence. But the issue is that given the behavior of the Russians and the speeches made by Russian officials, it is clear they intend to commit genocide against Ukrainians, and many experts already believe this is the case.
The invasion of Ukraine is an attempt to grab some of the most fertile land in the world and commit genocide against the people. It is a patent land grab of fascism, reminiscent of the actions of Hitler and Stalin.
It is a common motif in American politics to talk about what people would do if they were alive when Hitler was marching his army across Europe and committing genocide against people. This has been for most points in my life a mostly hypothetical question, and the invasion of democracies is very rare in the modern world.
But it was not hypothetical in 2008 when Russia invaded Georgia, and it was not hypothetical in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea. This stage of the invasion however in how long it is taking, the absolute brutality of the Russians against the Ukrainian people, and their refusal to distinguish between military and civilian targets, all to prevent a free people from taking their rightful place as a member state of NATO and the European Union, makes it impossible to be neutral. This invasion is more serious than the invasions of 2008 and 2014. The question has been whether politicians would have sided with Hitler through armistice or financial support, or would have opposed him outright. You cannot be neutral on a moving train, and there is no neutral position on this issue. You are either pro-Ukrainian, or you believe Ukraine should be annexed by Russia.
Today we can see clearly where politicians stand. The only morally righteous answer today is the same answer which was the only morally righteous answer when Nazi armies plundered France and the Vichy terrorized the people. We must oppose fascism and provide support to the free peoples of the world. Fascists will never respect autonomy, they will never respect the right of self-determination of free peoples. They will always continue to expand their reach until they are met with force.
Always be suspicious of any politician who attempts to excuse the actions of people like Hitler, Stalin, and Putin. Their motives are never righteous.
The invasion of Ukraine is the most black-and-white good vs. evil war I have seen in my life. It is unique among modern conflicts in how Ukraine is restrained against military targets, they have no desire to commit atrocities against the Russian people, (unlike the Bosnian War where there were war crimes on all sides) and their people have shown a clear and consistent desire to reform their country to improve their lives and join the European Union and NATO. Ukrainians don’t want to hurt Russians because Russian civilians don’t deserve to be treated the way Ukrainians are being treated, and it would prevent their accession to NATO. The Geneva Conventions are what separates us from countries like Russia.
When politicians today state that we should stop supporting Ukraine, this is morally the same as a politician standing up in 1943 and advocating to end support for de Gaulle and Free France.
We must continue military assistance of Ukraine so they can repel the Russian horde off of their land and reclaim their territory, and the minute the last Russian brute leaves Ukrainian territory, we must grant them immediate membership in NATO.
Send Ukraine arms.
Long Live NATO.
Slava Ukraine.