If we believe that peace in Ukraine is possible, we have to ask what it would look like.
What could a negotiated settlement between Ukraine and Russia be?
Negotiating with a country that has attacked you is so far away from ideal. But every war ends with a settlement. To ask what that settlement could entail is not disrespecting the suffering that the Ukrainian people have experienced; it comes from a desire for that suffering to end.
So what could peace look like?
To answer that, so many factors have to be discussed, and this is exactly what I have for you in my video recommendation.
In just one hour, Anatol Lieven from The Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft addresses so much: among other things, these are the concept of neutrality, Ukraine’s position towards NATO and the EU, what Russia seems not to be demanding anymore, and what a new order in the region might emerge if a settlement is reached.
Lieven’s interview is rich in historic context and generous in drawing parallels between Ukraine and other regions. Finland, Cyprus, Afghanistan (from which Lieven himself was reporting), and other places are mentioned here.
If you’re looking for a conversation that embraces nuances and denounces war-mongering, this is it.
I hope you watch it and share it with your friends.
Latest from the Blog
Black Lives Still Matter, Systemic Racism Still Needs Dismantling
It’s been two years since George Floyd was killed by Derek Chauvin. The protests that followed launched the US – and, in a way, the world – into a new stage of racial reckoning that the US is still in. Some new laws have been passed, and some old statues finally toppled.
But the system holds. On the 2nd anniversary of George Floyd’s killing, I’d like to share a beautiful interview with Toluse Olorunnipa and Robert Samuels who have just released a book on George Floyd.
What Do We Talk About When We Talk About Palestine? Part 8: Erasure
Attacks on Palestinians have intensified during the holy month of Ramadan again – they resemble what we saw last year. And the year before.
I’ve written a lot about Palestine but it’s time combine several things that I’ve partly mentioned in my previous episodes and focus this one on something rather obvious: the concept of erasure.
How Can We Actually Help Afghanistan?
We know that political turmoil – on top of devastation of a 20-year war – after the Taliban took power in August 2021 is a big factor in this crisis.
But we also know what one other factor that could immediately alleviate this suffering of the Afghan people is: these are the frozen funds that belong to the people of Afghanistan, and that are kept in mostly U.S. accounts. Hear about all this from the first civil society women’s delation that visited Afghanistan recently.
Noam Chomsky on Russia, Ukraine, China, US, and The State of The World
What would it take to negotiate a peace settlement in Ukraine?
What could Vladimir Putin see as a way out of this?
What role is the US currently playing here?
What’s happening with China?
And what’s the state of journalism and the mainstream media as the war in Ukraine is happening?
When an Empire Offers You a Moral Compass, You Can Pass
As the war in Ukraine has started, we have seen some absolutely hypocritical statements made by U.S. officials.
But they’re only hypocritical if we know a bit of the context here.
And when we do, we are much better equipped to construct our own moral compasses, without any help from the U.S. This is what I illustrate and explain much better in my episode.
The War in Ukraine and Its Multiple “Yes, And”s (Part 2)
Can we talk about the war in Ukraine and its complexities without being shut down or accused of minimising its horrors?
I think that is possible indeed – yet not that easy.
In my second episode, I talk about (1) racism in the media, (2) the overtness of racist and xenophobic immigration policies when it comes to accepting refugees, and (3) the difference between what-about-ism and saying, “this, too” when it comes to the war in Ukraine.
The War in Ukraine and Its Multiple “Yes, And”s (Part 1)
Can we talk about the war in Ukraine and its complexities without being shut down or accused of minimising its horrors?
I think that is possible indeed – yet not that easy.
In my first episode, I talk about (1) NATO expansion, (2) the extreme right in Ukraine, and (3) what we have to know about how sanctions work.
The War in Ukraine: What We Shouldn’t Forget?
No matter how you saw the situation in Eastern Ukraine before, it is clear now that a full-scale war in Ukraine has started. Putin did something that might have seemed incredible – just too massive – even for him.
If we are anti-war, we have to condemn this aggression, call for a ceasefire, and ask how people in Ukraine – in all of its regions – can be truly protected, under what arrangement.
What Do We Have To Know About The Frozen Afghan Funds?
What right does one country have to freeze the assets of another one?
What about when the country sanctioned is undergoing a major crisis?
These are the questions we have to ask about what the U.S. has been doing to Afghanistan.
The US and Russia: Is There An Alternative to The Drums of War?
The military escalations between NATO (well, the U.S., really) and Russia over Ukraine are no joke.
The price of war between two nuclear superpowers is as terrifying as it is clear. So what is it that can get in the way of saying NO to military escalations?
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Justina Poskeviciute 