Co-author with Dan Tavrov at UC Berkeley
On April 26, 2022, about 40 countries gathered at the base of the US Ramstein Air Force in Germany. The main purpose of the meeting was to intensify and coordinate multinational efforts to help Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression. The events that led to this result and what is to come have caused uneasy feelings. It is time to bring a Ukrainian voice to clarify the issue.
On April 22, a group of German intellectuals called on the German government, the EU and NATO countries to stop supplying weapons to Ukrainian troops and to encourage the Kyiv government to stop military resistance. On April 24, another group of intellectuals urged the German government and EU countries to “supply Ukraine […] with heavy weapons and certain offensive weapons, such as larger anti-aircraft systems, suitable fighter jets, warships, military vehicles, etc.” . ” They also condemned Germany for “short-sighted selfishness.”
In a recent interview, renowned linguist Noam Chomsky gave an expert opinion on geopolitics, saying that the only way to end the war, apart from defeating Ukraine, is “a negotiated agreement”. In his view, the terms imposed on Ukraine by Russia are “to transform Ukraine in a way like Mexico, [which is] a sovereign state that can choose its own path in the world without limitations, but cannot join the Chinese leadership. military alliances. ”
Unfortunately for the creator of transformational-generative grammar, the Russian supremacists do not want to transform Ukraine into Mexico. They want to turn Ukraine into empty land. In our recent article, we mentioned the atrocities discovered when the Ukrainian army liberated villages and towns near Kiev. To remind those Putinversteher intellectuals, “Soldiers found mass graves, bodies tortured by innocent Ukrainians and execution-style civilians killed.” It is not about NATO or other alleged security concerns (Hitler believed that the Jews created communism as part of a conspiracy to destroy Germany; now Putin believes that Ukraine is there to destroy Russia). It is about annihilating Ukraine and erasing something Ukrainian.
Fortunately, for every left-wing linguist there is a left-wing biologist, such as a renowned evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins (who, by the way, introduced the concept of memes). In his Twitter account, he continues to support Ukraine and condemn Russian war crimes. He recently retweeted an article in The New York Times, in which the author suggested “[supporting Ukraine] with the best weapons and training if they want to drive the Russian army out of every inch of their territory.”
The latest information missile was launched on April 27, when a former Kremlin consultant and author of The Strongman: Vladimir Putin and the Struggle for Russia wrote in a respected media institute that “the area under Russian control [… ] grew. maybe five times bigger ”and that“ the important thing is to talk rather than fight ”. He clearly forgot that in 1939-1941 the German-controlled area often increased its original size, but Britain did not want to “talk”. Instead, they asked for the tools ©.
All this cheap talk creates the illusion that there is an offer of peace on the table. According to the Financial Times, after the sinking of [the Russian cruise ship] Moscow, “Putin was against signing anything. […] After Moskva, he doesn’t look like a winner, because he was humiliating. ” Another infamous piece of propaganda in a Russian state media outlet claimed that “denazification [of Ukraine] will inevitably de-Ukrainianize.”
Obviously, these information attacks in Russia through their supporters and corrupt “thought leaders” are expected to continue, and it is our firm belief that there is a part whose thoughts need to be heard. By the end of March, 95% of Ukrainians believed that Ukraine would be able to repel Russia’s attack. As of April 6, 2022, 80% of Ukrainians say they are proud of their country; 91% did not support the statement that “Russians and Ukrainians are one people”; and about 80% of respondents were involved in one way or another in defending their country (from fighting to volunteering). Why? For many people in Ukraine – no matter what language they speak – this is a war of national liberation, an opportunity to escape from the prison of the peoples (ie Russia), a chance to gain freedom.
Where does that leave us? In the words of a well-known Ukrainian military expert Oleg Zhdanov, there are only two ways to end a war: either side loses or the other loses. All other options lead to postponed wars in the future