‘This is the most dangerous time in world history.’ – Noam Chomsky

The invasion of Ukraine was expected by many experts on foreign affairs. We all must oppose the brutal Russian aggression, but we must look at the causes of this war beyond the misinformation of the White House, the State Department and the corporate media. The solution to the crisis can be found only by a diplomatic solution that will spare the lives of many innocent Ukrainian and Russian people. Instead of weapons, weapons, weapons we need diplomacy, diplomacy, diplomacy.

According to Noam Chomsky, political activist and professor emeritus from MIT, “This is the most dangerous time in world history.” It is one thing to invade a weak country like Iraq which did not possess “weapons of mass destruction” and another to confront Russia which has thousands of nuclear weapons. The White House, State Department and the corporate media only tell one side of the story; Putin and Russia are totalitarian evils and Biden, and the democracies of the west, are good.

Many foreign policy experts like James Mearsheimer, international relations specialist and professor at the University of Chicago, answer the question “Why is Ukraine the West’s fault?” He says the cause of this war is the insistence of mainly the US government to expand NATO to Ukraine. NATO is a military alliance that has gone way past protecting Europe. NATO has been Involved in murderous and destabilizing wars such as those in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. In 2014 Putin said that Ukraine joining NATO was his red line. Since 2014 the US has been arming and training the Ukraine military, adding to instability in the region. 

According to Vijay Prashad, director of the Tricontinental Institute for Social Research, starting with the first Bush administration, the US has unilaterally cancelled the Anti-ballistic Missile Treaty. Then in 2018 Trump cancelled the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty. These unilateral actions have made Russia feel very insecure. David Swanson author, activist and journalist cited a Rand Corporation report that encouraged the expansion of NATO and arming and training Ukraine’s military to drag Russia into a war. The US government has set the trap. The Russians took the bait and launched an invasion.

What does this mean for the average American? The military budget is increasing by 29 billion dollars with another 13 billion in emergency military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine. Democrats and Republicans cannot agree to help the American people recover from the pandemic, but they have agreed to spend money on weapons. The military budget is scheduled to be raised by 29 billion dollars to a total of 782 billion dollars.

The world economic system is integrated. Ukraine supplies 10% of the world’s wheat and Russia another 15%. Russia also supplies 50% of the energy needs to Western Europe. Just cutting off natural gas to Europe will close hundreds of manufacturing plants, layoff thousands of workers and cause a worldwide recession. The loss of wheat will cause famine in the Mideast, central Asia and Africa. Replacing Russian fossil fuels with American fossil fuels will only accelerate global warming and climate change. Continuation of this war with the sanctions may come back and bite us. Another recession would be devastating to the people of our country.

Now we have a horrific war and the US and NATO want to continue the war until the last Ukrainian is standing. Mearsheimer has said the US is playing with fire. Putin cannot lose this war which he perceives as an existential threat to his nation. The US and NATO also cannot lose this war. Russia is already threatening to use nuclear weapons. If Russia begins to lose this war, according to Prashad, Putin will use first tactical nuclear weapons and who knows when the escalation will end. So, what kind of a game is Biden and company playing?

The only answer is diplomacy. Ukraine cannot join NATO. The way out will be a cease fire, begin real negotiations, supply only defensive weapons to Ukraine, and make sanctions contingent on peace. The possibility of world peace is dependent on cooperation between nations.

Noam Chomsky https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fb7AD49WIlY&t=44s

John Mearsheimer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrMiSQAGOS4&t=2716s

Vijay Prashad     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TloP2RdHVPw

David Swanson  https://davidswanson.org/rand-corporation-urged-creation-of-the-horrors-youre-seeing-in-ukraine/

Marshall Blesofsky is a long-time peace and social justice activist. He is the chair of the steering committee of Long Beach Area Peace Network and a member of Democratic Socialists if America. The views expressed in this article do not represent the views of either organization only those of the  author.