The failure of the United States to stop the war that broke out between Russia and Ukraine has caused severe suffering and led to radical changes on the world stage.
According to Guardian columnist Simon Tisdall, as a result of this, no one in the world can truly feel safe.
When Russia’s large-scale aggression began, US President Joe Biden, as an experienced participant in the Cold War, opted for containment tactics. In a speech in Warsaw in March 2022, he promised that Ukraine, although not a member of NATO, would receive the necessary weapons and economic support from the West in the form of sanctions that, according to Biden, would “turn the ruble into rubble.” At the same time, the United States has clearly indicated that it will not enter into direct confrontation with Russia until its actions affect Alliance member countries.
Thirty months into this war, Tisdall notes, it is clear that Biden’s containment strategy has not lived up to expectations. The conflict in Ukraine continues to expand, although confrontations between Russia and NATO have so far been avoided.
Tisdall listed the consequences resulting from Russian aggression against Ukraine:
- The territories of countries such as Poland, Romania and Belarus, the Russian union, are affected by the attack of Russian missiles and drones.
- Civil shipping in the Black Sea region was disrupted.
- Putin threatens the world with nuclear weapons and claims that the West is already waging war against him.
- Russian media threatens to destroy Poland and the Baltic countries.
- As a result, support for Ukraine causes fissures in relations between the United States, Europe and within NATO itself.
“Disputes over sending troops, supplying long-range missiles, and inviting Ukraine into the alliance only intensify,” Tisdall writes, “with Sweden and Finland rushing to become NATO members, and the Baltic states expressing fear of an expansion of Russian aggression. “Germany remains cautious despite France’s tough stance.”
According to the author, no one feels safe anymore. The lack of a clear strategy on the part of the West is causing seismic changes in geopolitics.
The partnership between China and Russia is developing rapidly and extreme political extremism (both right and left) is becoming a global threat. Hybrid warfare with its subversive actions, cyberattacks and disinformation has spread around the world since 2022, and other countries are following authoritarian regimes and adopting Russian tactics.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump is using the situation with Ukraine to convince Americans that NATO is unnecessary, calling it a European-led project. His opponent Kamala Harris, on the other hand, cannot show control over the situation, which, according to the author, complicates her chances of success in the upcoming elections.
Meanwhile, the war in Ukraine distracts attention from other problems such as conflicts in Sudan and Myanmar, as well as the worsening food crisis caused by attacks on Ukrainian grain exports. The climate crisis is also intensifying as active hostilities increase emissions. At the same time, Putin and his supporters remain unpunished for alleged war crimes and trust in international law and judicial decisions is declining.
The damage caused by the war continues to mount: the World Bank estimates that Ukraine suffered losses of $152 billion in the first two years, and the UN estimates that reconstruction will require about $486 billion.
“The casualties in this war are terrible,” writes Tisdall, “up to 10,000 civilians have died, perhaps more than 30,000 Ukrainian soldiers and some 115,000 Russian soldiers. “Russia continues to suffer colossal losses, both in numbers of citizens and freedoms.”
Many of these tragedies, Tisdall believes, could have been avoided if NATO had confronted the Russian threat more forcefully from the beginning. Biden acknowledged that the United States knew that an invasion was imminent as early as January 2022, but his actions were limited to warning Putin. If the American president told the Russian leader, “Don’t attack or you’ll face NATO’s best,” that could have a deterrent effect, Tisdall said.
According to the author, Putin could have decided not to attack if he believed he would face a decisive response from NATO.
Previously Kursor reported that, according to the analyst, Ukraine was betrayed not by Trump, but by Biden.
