Oct 7, 2024

By Myron Haluk

In 1983 at the height of Moscow’s military buildup, French philosopher Jean-François Revel published “How Democracies Perish” in which he wrote that: “Democratic civilization is the first in history to blame itself because another power is working to destroy it.” This would have been the view of a young West German Marxist at that time, Olaf Scholz, who campaigned vigorously against NATO and visited Moscow’s satellite, East Germany, numerous times.

Today, Chancellor Scholz, despite previously announcing a German Zeitenwende in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, openly asserts that, ”now is the time to discuss how to arrive at peace from this state of war, indeed at a faster peace” with Russia present at peace talks. Now German media is reporting that Scholz is desperate to have a phone conversation with Putin to talk with him this month ahead of November’s G20 summit. This is music to Putin’s ears and will have the reverse effect of what the feckless Scholz intended. It will only encourage Putin to double down on his aggression seeing how Germany is preparing to throw in the towel as Scholz reduces military aid to Ukraine.

No other major country in Europe empowered Russia’s aggression as much as Germany did under Chancellors Gerhard Schröder and then Angela Merkel. As the New York Times’ David Sanger writes in his latest book, the 2015 decision to build Nord Stream 2 after Russia’s invasion of Crimea, “ranks among the most short-sighted and damaging European geopolitical moves since the end of World War II”.

If Russia truly wanted peace, it would be Putin who would be asking for talks, not Scholz. How do Scholz and many other Western leaders not understand that it is Russia that must be pressured to peace, not Ukraine? There is no long-term thinking in the West’s strategy in dealing with Russian aggression. It is all ad hoc and painfully transparent, even now, almost three years into Russia’s full-scale invasion. Revel’s prediction of a democratic country perishing under Moscow thankfully did not occur back then, but it is happening now in plain-view of the world. Day by day a democracy in the centre of Europe is being bludgeoned to death as the Russian military bulldozer slowly advances across its territory leaving devastation in its wake.

A black hole in the middle of Europe where Ukraine once stood will not serve Germany’s interests. Nor will a rump Ukrainian state coerced into capitulation serve Germany’s interests. Nor will some fanciful Minsk-3 with Putin’s useless signature on it. Only a Russian defeat in Ukraine will serve Germany’s interests and the sooner the Chancellor realizes this, the better for Ukraine, and for Germany. Stop trying to phone Putin and stop crying uncle. Putin knows where his phone is if he wants to use it.

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