Saturday 15 April 2023

How to get peace in Ukraine

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I’ve watched professor Stephen Kotkin before, on Lex Fridman. World expert on Stalin and Soviet Union.

TL;DR:

Cold War: was not a failure but a success. It was “winning the peace”. When the alternatives were (a) Submission to Soviet Union or (b) Hot war. 

Ukraine: a durable peace could be: 

Cease fire ➤ Armistice ➤ DMZ (Donbas region) and Russia keeps Crimea ➤ Path for Ukraine to EU membership ➤ Security guarantee (US/EU). 

That would be “winning the peace”, similar to Korea. 

Alternative: Ukraine keeps fighting “to the end”. Even if it drives out Russia from everywhere, including Crimea, but has no path to EU or security guarantee, that would not be a victory. Not long term, at least. Korean Peninsula peace, an armistice, has made South Korea rich and safe for 70+ years. 

ADDED: Kotkin: WWII was not won by destroying the will of the people, German or Japanese. It was won by destroying their capacity to fight, destroying their arms manufacturing. That is not happening today in the Russia-Ukraine war. Ukraine arms manufacturing is being destroyed, Russian is not.