You’ve probably noticed that, in the last month, the news outlets have once again become fixated with the idea of Western powers going to war, and it would seem to me that the rules of international politics are once again created in line with the 2002 remake of Spiderman.
Let me explain. Countries who are militarily superior tend to think that they have a remit to get involved in other nations’ disputes just because they have the ability to. In essence: “great power comes with great responsibility”. But does this responsibility actually exist? Is it right for us to intervene?
You could argue, like Uncle Ben, that having military force and significant global influence means that if you’ve got the potential to stop something really awful, then you should. The real issue, of course, is that Western nations are self- interested and hot-headed, and as a result, singular intervention is often unhelpful.
The UN, incidentally, should be the body which regulates international conflict. There’s certainly a case to be made for the right of the sovereignty of a nation to fight its own battles, but most would concede that some form of international unity is needed. It’s then frustrating when nations on the Security Council ignore the veto and wade in anyway.
With that in mind, you’ll excuse me for being sceptical about the West’s condemnation of Russia’s intervention in Crimea. Putin’s been accused, quite rightly, of putting his own interests before those of the citizens of Ukraine, and Obama waded in with sanctions and embargoes that Westminster was initially reluctant to agree to (remember the secret papers that got ‘papped’ on the doorstep of No.10?).
In my view, any intervention from the West should be done through the UN and dealt with through summits that include Russia, not through shady strategy meetings that prove it’s a two- sided game.
Russia holds an enormous amount of Ukrainian currency, giving it practically the power of a central bank, and it takes the majority of Ukrainian exports. Without Putin, Ukraine is stuck with no power, no money, and no trade links. The EU has already ostracised Ukraine with the introduction of a tariff that non-EU nations must pay to trade with us – so Ukraine is not in a position to burn any more bridges.
The question, then, is whether or not we can allow this sort of manoeuvre in Putin’s ex-Soviet ‘sphere of influence’. If we can’t, then what can we do? Russia and the West both have power, and a clash of perceived responsibility has led to an international escalation. Uncle Ben would tell us to intervene – but I suspect the moral high ground (that Spiderman has the liberty of taking) was lost long ago.
The Sixth Form Journal 