New Era, New Thinking

While we can point to many causes of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, while there are dirty hands all around, including many in Europe and the United States, perhaps what is most stunning about these developments is how extraordinarily familiar they are. Yes, we should be horrified by bombs falling at night, terrified mothers on the run with their children and above all those who fall, but haven’t we seen this again and again, and recently, in conflicts in other places?

Strangely, it does feel new, nonetheless. Perhaps this is because the West is particularly horrified by a war that’s much closer to home, or because those have pointed out, didn’t the U.S. do much worse in Iraq and Afghanistan, and didn’t much of Europe either directly support or abide those catastrophic abuses, and then cry about the women and children they abandoned last year? Indeed, has war not been a constant since the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, and even before?