Author’s Note: I am a pessimist. I aways see the dark side of everything. It’s what I do. I’m “negative.” Yet believe it or not, there is tremendous value in that. Pessimists like me—and perhaps like you—tend to see the storm coming long before anyone else. So it is with that mindset that I wrote the article pasted below. It was my attempt at a roadmap to peace—and not merely for the sake of it, but because I fear that without peace, the war in Ukraine will spiral into absolute chaos, and maybe even nuclear war. Unfortunately, recent events there have forced me to reevaluate my position on the best way to sidestep catastrophe. You see, I figured that Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted to avoid a long and costly quagmire, and therefore, it might be possible to bring him to the negotiating table. Yet now I fear he is not interested in that. Instead, he seems to be playing for all the marbles, and he is not going to back out now. But for today, I still think it is worthwhile to publish my “roadmap to peace” in the vain hope that someone, somewhere will find it compelling. Heck, maybe it isn’t too late. But don’t look for me to tell you that. I am a pessimist.
It is an exaggeration to write that nuclear war spells the end of humanity. You and I may perish, but some people would do ok. The asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs was equivalent to a billion 100 kt nuclear weapons. A few thousand warheads would not cause global extinction.
I disagree on one point. The new western ukrain must be protected by a nuclear power. The mutual destruction strategy is the only way to make peace in a nuclear world. The current situation of a non nuclear ukrain with no nuclear alliances is what has led to this invasion by a nuclear power. The new order determines that all non nuclear nations must align with a major nuclear power for protection.
On a side note, (edited error) Victor Davis makes conclusions based on some blatantly wrong suppositions. I could go into details if requested. But they are so critically amateur that I cannot decide if he is very uninformed or just motivated to lie. Me, Im a Kotkinist.
Yes, its time to cut a very comprehensive deal with vlad (including hacking protections, space, arctic, etc) and start to focus on the communist party of china.
I also think with the war drums beating now there's not been enough critical thinking on the lead up to this. Putin gave plenty of warning. The US did not give anything significant in negotiations and Ukraine cut off water supply to Crimea. It's Ukrainians (and many Russians) that are suffering from this, and it was largely preventable. I'm also wondering if this is what the US wanted - to weaken Russia militarily and financially and to get NATO countries to ramp up funding.
It is an exaggeration to write that nuclear war spells the end of humanity. You and I may perish, but some people would do ok. The asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs was equivalent to a billion 100 kt nuclear weapons. A few thousand warheads would not cause global extinction.
I disagree on one point. The new western ukrain must be protected by a nuclear power. The mutual destruction strategy is the only way to make peace in a nuclear world. The current situation of a non nuclear ukrain with no nuclear alliances is what has led to this invasion by a nuclear power. The new order determines that all non nuclear nations must align with a major nuclear power for protection.
On a side note, (edited error) Victor Davis makes conclusions based on some blatantly wrong suppositions. I could go into details if requested. But they are so critically amateur that I cannot decide if he is very uninformed or just motivated to lie. Me, Im a Kotkinist.
Yes, its time to cut a very comprehensive deal with vlad (including hacking protections, space, arctic, etc) and start to focus on the communist party of china.
I agree with your thoughts.
I also think with the war drums beating now there's not been enough critical thinking on the lead up to this. Putin gave plenty of warning. The US did not give anything significant in negotiations and Ukraine cut off water supply to Crimea. It's Ukrainians (and many Russians) that are suffering from this, and it was largely preventable. I'm also wondering if this is what the US wanted - to weaken Russia militarily and financially and to get NATO countries to ramp up funding.