By the time you are reading this, it will be approximately twenty (20) days since Russia invaded Ukraine. To date, Russia has killed several thousand Ukrainians, including destroying hospitals, schools, and residential areas. Millions of Ukrainian refugees have fled the country while others move about from place to place dodging the bombardment by the Russians, as they have lost their homes and have nowhere to go.
In unprecedented cooperation, the United States along with many other nations have unleashed a multitude of sanctions on Russia, all economic in nature. While these are amazing achievements, and the world is ecstatic when another European country seizes another Russian Oligarch’s superyacht, these sanctions have done nothing to deter the Cold War ambitions of Mr. Putin. (Maybe the yachts should be moved to house Ukrainian refugees that have lost everything they know)
Multiple countries have sent food, medical aid, and financial assistance to Ukraine while some countries such as the United States have agreed to send weapons. Assisting the Ukrainians in waging their defense against the aggression from Mother Russia is a calculated response.
As the song made popular by STING so many years ago says, “In Europe and America there is a growing feeling of hysteria”. Quite simply, there is an overall fear of the inevitable possibility of World War III. Some pundits say that the rest of the world is naïve, and it is that World War III has already begun.
The Ukrainians have begged NATO for assistance only to be told that they are not able to assist but make no mistake bombs are falling dangerously close to the border of Poland, a NATO country. So, what is the end game you ask?
Well, we know that Putin has doubled down after the economic sanctions have weakened the Russian economy and squeezed the world’s Russian Oligarch billionaires like common folk. Yet, make no mistake, Putin cannot and will not accept defeat in Ukraine. That would be the ultimate political blow to an already tetter tottering ruler, who thinks he is the next Czar.
With all the talk running about regarding which country Putin may turn on next, the question becomes while we are all living our lives deciding what to eat for dinner, people are starving in Ukraine because of a relic from the Cold War’s belief that a united Russia is a better option than separate sovereign nations. The world must be mindful not to make too many mistakes when it comes to the handling of this situation as neighboring countries and the West are inches from the irrational crosshairs of a conflict older than most people. This is a dangerous game of hopscotch, and it is a shame that there is not an easy simple solution.
One would think that in 2022 we would be able to find peace among our brothers and sisters from different countries. It should be easy to understand that all lives are important and just because some believe that Ukraine should not be independent does not change their right to be.
Our prayers go out to the citizens of Ukraine and their families. May they see the light of another day, and may this conflict come to an end before it becomes impossible for the spilled milk to not get cleaned up. Being as there are severe consequences in today’s nuclear world, conflict is not just isolated. A regional and/or global conflict can spin out of control very quickly giving rise to decisions that are not changeable once made.
While it seems unfathomable that World War III is an inevitable conclusion of the human condition, looking back at history, most of the wars that have been fought have started quite similarly. As much as we study these conflicts we still are burdened with their ultimate underlying issue. At the end of the day, this is all an egocentric issue to see who is the bigger, better, more dominant nation.
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