The ongoing war in Ukraine

)Dear Diary,

There is a favourite blogger of mine (I follow very few blogs) that recently posted about the ongoing war in Ukraine. She doesn't usually comment on current events as like me she is a historian. Her view is laudable, as she condemns the invasion and occupation, yet she is actually quite naive. The reason NATO does not weigh in with full force is because of world peace and stability. It is a delicate, fragile geo-political balance and it would be all too easy to spark a tinderbox of a world war, thus leading to Mutally Assured Destruction. NATO leaders are acutely aware of this, which is precisely why they haven't gone 'all in' yet. Sure. It's bad, very bad, but what are you going to do? Start a Third World War in the middle of a global pandemic? No. The world will sit back and watch, filming it, as many journalists and even Sean Penn are doing. Yet no one will actually do anything about it. It will be like when China invaded Tibet, twice. The world will simply watch it happen.

Sure, sanctions, yes yes, maybe even limited clandestine black ops, but no tanks, no air support, no real amount of troops or anything even like that. Ukraine will be an example of Russian aggression, just as Tibet was an example of Chinese aggression. The West is not able to do anything, because if it did, it would surely lead to a much greater loss of life. Imagine, however, if the Russians or the Chinese did attack a NATO country. Then there would be a much more serious conflict. I should imagine that when the Chinese annex Taiwan (as they surely will do) the same thing will happen. The West will just watch.

When I studied medieval and modern history at University, some nine years ago, our lecturer made the point that maps are often impersonal, and do not reflect the humanitarian cost of life and circumstances of people living in such challenging conditions during wartime. However, the good Doctor did still use maps to illustrate points regarding geo-political situations in history. Imagine what the map of the world, politically, will look like once Putin and Xi Jinping have conquered Ukraine and much of the land in the South China Sea region (if they manage it) in years to come. Will Vlad the Invader and the autocratic tyrant Xi Jinping be seen as successful leaders? Absolutely.

Max.