Russia’s invasion is tragic but necessary — and the bloodshed is on the West’s hands. America must negotiate a peace in Ukraine now.

In the Cuban Missile Crisis, America and Russia nearly went to war over Soviet nukes being placed in Cuba. Is it so surprising that Russia is fighting a proxy war to prevent the further expansion of NATO, and the consequent potential placement of nuclear weapons in Ukraine? No, it is not. It is a fight to maintain MAD — the ‘mutually assured destruction’ that keeps us all safe. The West is jeopardising it. Russia is supporting it. Simple as that. Sorry.

NATO is a nuclear alliance. If it were to expand to Ukraine that would be as threatening to Russia as Soviet nukes were to America in Cuba. Russia is fighting a war to prevent that. It is not good, for wars are terrible. But Russia’s actions are completely understandable, if also utterly inexcusable. They reflect a geopolitical necessity; what Chicago Professor John Mearsheimer has called ‘the tragedy of great power politics’. But the addition of nuclear weapons to the nineteenth century-style view of great power politics strengthens Mearsheimer’s case beyond all dispute — the bloodshed in Ukraine is on the West’s hands. The only real protections keeping the world safe from great power war are American hegemony and MAD. America’s actions are undermining both — as financialisation weakens its economy, allowing China to take its place, while aggression towards Russia has provoked a pointless war with no end.

I once again call for all fighting to cease and for peace negotiations to commence, leading to a neutral Ukraine and a U.S.-Russia alliance to contain the real threat to world peace: the rise of China. Shall we begin?

Disclaimer: Any similarity between names mentioned and actual individuals is purely accidental and largely theoretical. These are fun ideas to entertain but, as always, I may be mistaken. After all, what do I know?