Realists’ Warn Against Ukraine Escalation

[eridani]

http://www.commondreams.org/views/2015/02/11/realists-warn-against-ukraine-escalation

In recent years, Official Washington – the politicians, the think tanks and the major news media – has been dominated by neoconservatives and their sidekicks, the “liberal interventionists,” with the old-school “realists” who favor a more measured use of American power largely marginalized. But finally, on the dangerous issue of Ukraine, some are speaking up.

Two of the few remaining “realists” with some access to elite opinion circles, Stephen M. Walt and John J. Mearsheimer, have written articles opposing the new hot idea in Washington to arm the Kiev regime so it can more efficiently kill ethnic Russians battling to expand their territory in eastern Ukraine.

As classic “realists,” these two academics do not argue so much the moral issue of whether the eastern Ukrainians should be slaughtered in the Kiev regime’s determination to crush all resistance to its authority or whether the U.S. support for last year’s overthrow of elected President Viktor Yanukovych was justified. Instead, they focus on whether arming the Kiev regime makes sense for U.S. interests.

But what is most remarkable about the two articles – one in Foreign Policy and the other in the New York Times opinion section – is that they deviate from the relentless pro-escalation “group think” that has dominated the U.S. policy debate, across the board, on Ukraine. It’s almost shocking to encounter two foreign policy experts who aren’t on the latest rush-to-war bandwagon.

Granted, their arguments are relatively narrow, focusing on the likely consequences of shipping weapons to the unstable Kiev regime, but still – such skepticism about the conventional wisdom is almost heretical these days.

In Foreign Policy, Walt notes that despite the emerging consensus to ship arms to Ukraine, “few experts think this bankrupt and divided country is a vital strategic interest and no one is talking about sending U.S. troops to fight on Kiev’s behalf. So the question is: does sending Ukraine a bunch of advanced weaponry make sense? The answer is no.”

[Blue_Tires]

1. They'll start changing their tune once Putin decides to

"reclaim" Belarus, Estonia, etc...


Besides; we've sent boatload of advanced weaponry to folks a hundred times shadier than the Ukrainians, so what the fuck does anybody care?

[Duckhunter935]

2. Yep, Putin will

have to go in to "protect" the ethnic Russians.

[RobertEarl]

4. You and tires are quite the cters

How long do you two think you can keep up these warmongering theories? I look forward to the day you stop.

[Duckhunter935]

5. I look forward

to the day you can accept the truth that Putin has been sending heavy weapons and troops into eastern Ukraine.

[RobertEarl]

7. well

Pretty soon Ukraine is going to run out of idiots who want war and then there will be peace.

[JonLP24]

6. Only just a little more shadier than Ukraine's government

Just the Yemen's government, installing Al-Maliki was corrupt dude.

Ukraine is the "most corrupt country in Europe"
http://www.transparency.org/cpi2014/results

[Purveyor]

3. kick. Thanks for posting. +1 eom

[eridani]

8. I really can't believe people are stupid enough to think that anyone replacing Putin would be better

I'll start caring about Russian foreign policy when they have more than 800 military bases on every continent in the world.

[bemildred]

9. US Foreign Policy elites don't give a crap about Ukraine.

They care about themselves and their little projects and their little disputes. Until you wrap your mind around that idea, you won't see what is going on.