WhatsappJoe Biden is now using the words, “move in” when he refers to Putin and Russia invading the Ukraine. Not only that, he basically said that it’s not that bad as long as it’s not a full-fledged takeover of the country. Is Putin laughing? Absolutely. Are the people of Ukraine in a state of panic? Absolutely. How big a deal is this? Let’s analyze.
Joe Biden cannot use the excuse of not having foreign policy experience. He has been involved in foreign policy from Congress and the Vice Presidency for more than 50 years. But the people that are whispering in his ear are a bunch of bumbling radical progressives who do not understand the stakes. Biden’s advisors, who used to be Obama’s advisors are made of the same stuff that does not scare the dangerous despots in power.
Ukraine has historically been the buffer that countries in Europe looked at as an area filled with food potential. Germany viewed the Ukraine as a bread basket and an area that would increase their “living space.” Russia and the Soviet Union always viewed the Ukraine as part of their empire – largely for economic reasons. Kiev is not just the capital of the Ukraine. It is the city that the Soviet Union chose to build their massive Mother Russia monument that symbolizes the values of the Soviet Union. Kiev has seen much bloodshed over control of this massive city with a river down the middle.
But it is more than that. World War I and World War II were not started in the Ukraine. However, major fronts of both wars centered around the Ukraine. There is no country that serves as more of a buffer from invasions – both from the West and the East – than the Ukraine. Isolationists can say as much as they want that this is not our war if the Russians invade. But what they don’t know is when and where a Russian invasion will stop. It is not just the Ukraine that is concerned about the invasion. Poland, Germany, and the rest of Western Europe are all gravely concerned. Would the isolationists say it is not our war if Poland is invaded too? Moreover, if the NATO countries do not join together to defend Europe, then what is the point of the NATO agreement.
Biden and the United States are now facing a major foreign policy test that will lead to a major world realignment – a new world that may be much more disorderly than the one that exists today. China and Taiwan are watching every move. What the United States does or doesn’t do in the Ukraine may have greater repercussions than the horrible withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan.
