As tensions build up between NATO and Russia, we need a sustained commitment to diplomacy, as promised by President Biden and Secretary of State Blinken. The New York Times has it about right when they say that the real reason that Russia is threatening invasion with its military buildup around Ukraine, is a cry against injustice: “…The real cause [of threatened invasion] may lie in the Kremlin’s fixation with righting what it sees as a historical injustice. To President Putin, and many other Russians, the nearly eight-year-old conflict with Ukraine is … about a hurt national psyche, a historical injustice to be set right.” Russians and Russian-Ukrainians share identity: “Every family in Russia has a Ukrainian in their family.” (From a teacher in Russia) Russia helped the United States in recent years, in Syria, ferrying our astronauts to the Space Station, etc. The Russian public was pro-American following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Now, they feel exhausted, partly from anti-Russian ill-will.
Diplomacy requires “skill in handling affairs without arousing hostility.” Hostility is “deep-seated, usually mutual, ill will (mutual unfriendly feeling). Thus, anti-Putin, anti-Russian ill-will is antithetical to diplomacy. May President Biden choose diplomats who resolve conflicts, a win-win situation, and say no to a 0-sum game by coercion. My spectacular suggestion: Ukraine and Russia should each chose a group of peace-loving young patriots to propose a start to a resolution.
Nicholas Ourusoff
New London