A Nuclear War in Ukraine?
The World After the Ukraine War, by John Mearsheimer / 28 Jun 2022
The Zerohedge by TYLER DURDEN / JUN 27, 2022
Mearsheimer on Ukraine: The US is to Blame!
The theorist of great power politics believes that NATO’s push eastward provoked Putin’s invasion, and only the Ukrainians can end it.
John Mearsheimer becomes a divisive figure in recent debates over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine because of a message he’s been sharing since 2014 (when Russia invaded and annexed Crimea): Putin’s aggression towards Ukraine isn’t about Russia’s expansionist ambitions or a desire to restore the nation’s global status to that of its Soviet glory days.
Instead, it’s about Western interventionism. Specifically, it’s about pressure by the US on Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and European Union (EU).
NATO membership has grown significantly since 1990 (see image below). Putin views this possible future, in which Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova join NATO and the EU, as an existential threat to Russia’s security and geopolitical interests.
So, even though Russia has clearly been the aggressor in the Ukran-Russia war, the US, not Russia, is to blame for the current predicament.
Mearsheimer explains how the Ukraine-Russia conflict came about:
I think all the trouble in this case really started in April, 2008, at the nato Summit in Bucharest, where afterward Nato issued a statement that said Ukraine and Georgia would become part of Nato. The Russians made it unequivocally clear at the time that they viewed this as an existential threat, and they drew a line in the sand.
Nevertheless, what has happened with the passage of time is that we have moved forward to include Ukraine in the West to make Ukraine a Western bulwark on Russia’s border. Of course, this includes more than just NATO expansion. NATO expansion is the heart of the strategy, but it includes EU expansion as well, and it includes turning Ukraine into a pro-American liberal democracy, and, from a Russian perspective, this is an existential threat.
Regarding the war’s consequences, the greatest danger is that the war will go on for months if not years, and that either NATO will get directly involved in the fighting or nuclear weapons will be used — or both. Furthermore, enormous damage has already been inflicted on Ukraine. A prolonged war is likely to wreak even more devastation on Ukraine.
Listen to Mearsheimer of how we could end up with nuclear weapons being used: The World After the Ukraine War
Joel Huan
The Mystery of Ephraim 