The idea that Russia is somehow threatened by these states is absurd. Those states, based on their own histories, are terrified of Russian attack and desperate for European and American support.Īmong the first to join NATO were the three Baltic republics, tiny states that could not defend themselves against the twin horrors of Hitler’s Third Reich and Stalin’s Soviet empire. Whatever “legitimate” security concerns Russia might have had then (and now) are surely eclipsed the legitimate security concerns of those former Soviet republics. And nearly all of those who could, applied to join NATO. Every single one of the 15 constituent Soviet republics declared independence from Russia. Thirty years ago, when the USSR broke up, two things happened almost immediately. “Russian leaders,” he writes, “made clear their concerns about the prospect of former Soviet states becoming part of Nato and positioning hostile military forces along Russia’s border.” In Bernie’s view, “they are still legitimate concerns.” And “appeasement” was not a good strategy back in 1938, and it’s not a good strategy today. Showing strength and getting tough are not terrible strategies for dealing with bullies, be they school-yard toughs or nuclear-armed aggressor states. And he correctly names the culprit in the current crisis: Vladimir Putin.īut Bernie adds that he is worried about “the familiar drumbeats in Washington, the bellicose rhetoric that gets amplified before every war, demanding that we must ‘show strength, ‘get tough’ and not engage in ‘appeasement’.” He’s certainly right about that - no reasonable person would disagree. AWL students (meetings, articles, more)Ī few days ago the Guardian ran an article by Bernie Sanders entitled “We must do everything possible to avoid an enormously destructive war in Ukraine”.On Guard (Sheffield rail workers) (bulletin).Notts Off the Rails (Nottingham rail workers) (bulletin).Off the Rails (national rail workers) (blog).Off the Rails (national rail workers) (bulletin).
Tubeworker (London Underground) (bulletin).
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