Tag Archives: Russia

Bombs don’t make peace

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We see it again and again, world leaders thinking, for some obscure reason, that bombs can make peace. Well, they don’t!

Did Putin get what he wanted when he launched his “quick invasion” of Ukraine? No! Instead the war is still dragging on, two and a half years later. Do Putin really think that he’s going to enter the history books as the leader who managed to restore the Russian empire? No, he’s going to to be listed as a man abusing his power, a leader crushing down all opposition among his fellow countrymen and -women, one who ignore human rights and who prosecute LGBTQIA+ people and whomever speaks against him. A leader that waged war on a neighbouring country without provocation.

In addition, Putin is every so often threatening to use nuclear weapons. What would happen if he do? It will only escalate the conflict further, and a peace treaty will no longer be possible. The retaliations against Russia would be severe. And again, he will certainly not appear in the history books as a great leader, but the one crazy man that pressed the red button.

Do the Israeli government lead by prime minister Nethanyahu create peace with their invasion of Gaza? And more resent their invasion and bombing of South Lebanon? Do Nethanyahu and his cabinet think that by killing tens of thousands of civilians in Gaza and Lebanon, in their hunt for Hamas, that they will obtain any kind of peace and security for the Israeli people any time soon? NO! All they do is escalating the conflict.

I strongly condemn the Hamas attack on Israel October 7, 2023, their killings and taking of hostages. I also strongly condemn the continuous attack on Gaza by the Israelis.

The only thing they are going to achieve by this war on the Palestinians, is creating more hate, more Palestinians turning against them, willing to sacrifice themselves for a free Palestine.

The Israelis continue to bomb hospitals and schools where people has taken up refuge, because their homes are destroyed, the refuge camps are not safe, in their hunt for Hamas. So far more than 41 500 Palestinians have died, the great majority civilians. In comparison, the Israeli has lost 1 706 people. I don’t like to compare numbers like this, but it shows the efficiency of the Israeli army compared to their opponent.

Now the situation is getting even more dangerous, as Iran is about to be involved as well. We are on the verge of a full scale war in the Middle-East, a war that is only going to create more hatred and conflict, and no peace.

The Israeli government, led by Nethanyahu, has given the green light for more illegal settlements. They are still pushing on Palestinian land, imposing restrictions on their movements, blocking supplies. And this was before the war started. What do they think they will accomplish? That the Palestinians would surrender and say, OK, you win, we move? As long as Israeli politics are formed and carried out in a way that threatens the existence of the Palestinian state, Israel will never be safe either. How hard is that to understand?

With all this said about the Israeli response to the October 7 attacks by Hamas, I don’t understand what the latter thought they would obtain either, except for severe retaliations by the Israelis. Did they think that Israel would “surrender” after the attack? What on earth were they thinking? In one way, we might say that it was Hamas that brought all the destructions on Gaza, on it’s own people. They knew for sure that Israel would react. How could they not? If my neighbour starts shooting at me, am I not forced to protect myself? How come Hamas launched this attack, fully aware of the possible retaliations? Hamas also knew that the population of Gaza has literally nowhere to go, nowhere where it’s safe. It is pure cowardice to use women and children as shields. The Palestinians suffered enough as it was, for Hamas to bring this war on them by their actions. Again, acts of war don’t make peace.

Unfortunately, as long as there are people on either side that has no interest in a peaceful solution, the situation will never be solved. We all thought peace between Palestine and Israel would become a reality after the signing of the Oslo Agreement in 1993 and the Oslo Agreement II in 1995. It was supposed to be a first step towards a peaceful co-existence between Palestine and Israel. There were people on both sides that were not happy with the outlines in these agreements, but negotiations were supposed to carry on. When the Likud party (Israel) won the elections in 1996, the agreement was put aside, and negotiations halted.

Since then the situation has become more severe, until this last devastating escalation. Peace has never been further away. I don’t know how the situation can be solved, neither in the Middle-East or in Ukraine, but one thing is for sure, bombs don’t make peace.

Image by Banksy

Trying to piece it together…

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Three weeks into the war in Ukraine it seems hard to predict the outcome, except for the fact that Ukraine will be left in ruins. What we all hope for is that the Ukrainians will get out of this war as a free and democratic country. And perhaps it should be added that a lot of us also hope for the fall of Putin as a consequence of his totally unjustified attack on Ukraine.

What we do already see the contours of, is a new approach in the West towards securing their own energy supplies, to be able to get out of the Russian grip. We have also been reminded of how vulnerable we are as Ukraine and Russia are the leading suppliers of wheat, sunflower seeds, gas and ingredients for making fertilizer. The war, in addition to the recent pandemic, has already caused shortages, and experts warn of even higher prices of food as farmers all over the world will face shortages of fertilizer, resulting in less productivity and thereby higher prices. The higher prices of food, fuel and electricity are already duly noted by consumers everywhere.

The question now is, how are we going to meet the challenges we are facing? For sure, not being dependent of oil and gas from Russia is a good start. Will it be a push to the green shift, or not? It has also become evident that supply chains can be highly unreliable, and so it has sparked a debate about self-sufficiency in some countries, like in Norway.

High food prices is of great concern all over the world. For the middle class, they might be able to re-prioritise their spending, e.g. cut down on “luxury” spending like vacations, new furniture, and new cars. For the poorer segment of society, it will add to their hardship. They do not have much to spend in the first place. Increased prices on both energy, fuel and food will hit them very hard. What will the various governments do to ease their strain? Because if nothing is done, there will be a risk of violent protests, like the Yellow Vest movement we saw in France only a few years ago, or the Egyptian revolution in 2011.

The Ukrainians are fighting for their sovereignty, freedom and democracy. Values that the West seems to take for granted, even though we have had a couple of reminders over the past few years that we should not. What happened in USA during the time Trump was president, and what happened after the 2020 elections should be carefully noted. Poland has also been moving in a less democratic direction lately, as have Viktor Orban’s Hungary. In France extreme right-wing candidates are ranking high on the polls before the upcoming elections this April. Perhaps Putin’s war in Ukraine will help undermine them, as we are now reminded of what extremism and despotism look like.

The Russian people are obviously asking themselves these days if they are heading back to the way of life they experienced in the Soviet Union. No freedom of speech, no Western import goods, restricted travel, high inflation etc. In other words, is Putin about to pull a new iron curtain between Russia and the West?

The young generation of Russians have grown up with access to everything we have in the West. Will they accept going backwards? Is there any chance they will be able to change the direction their country is about to take? Considering the massive protests against the war it certainly looks like they will not let themselves be oppressed without fight. Others are simply leaving their country.

Most European countries have decided to expand their military spending, in addition to seek solutions to an acute energy deficiency. They have also been very a wide consent regarding the sanctions against Russia, and what is at stake in a broader view. Democracy in itself is threatened. How are we going to cope with that?

Frankly speaking, I have more questions than answers these days. The latest news is that Putin has laid out his demands for peace, but the details are not yet known, adding to my list of questions.  

Whatever happens over the next weeks, the world will not be the same as it was before February 24, 2022.