Ukraine war can be blamed on U.S. neoconservative thinkers: Sachs
Biden should have known better
American economist Jeffrey Sachs says that the war in Ukraine can be blamed on the powerful neoconservative movement – a group of influential academics whose main message is, “the U.S. must predominate in military power in every region of the world.”
Writing in Tukkun, Sachs argues that, “The neocons championed NATO enlargement to Ukraine even before that became official U.S. policy under George W. Bush, Jr. in 2008. They viewed Ukraine’s NATO membership as key to U.S. regional and global dominance.”
"The main message of the neocons is that the U.S. must predominate in military power in every region of the world" - Jeffrey Sachs
The expansion of NATO (the military alliance which includes the U.S., Canada and most of Europe) up to the border of its old enemy, Russia, is an important justification by Russian President Putin for his invasion of Ukraine in February, 2022.
Sachs says, “The main message of the neocons is that the U.S. must predominate in military power in every region of the world, and must confront rising regional powers that could someday challenge U.S. global or regional dominance, most importantly Russia and China. For this purpose, U.S. military force should be pre-positioned in hundreds of military bases around the world and the U.S. should be prepared to lead wars of choice as necessary. The United Nations is to be used by the U.S. only when useful for U.S. purposes.”
American President Joe Biden should have taken steps to rid his administration of the neocon influence, says Sachs. “The Biden Administration is packed with the same neocons who championed the U.S. wars of choice in Serbia (1999), Afghanistan (2001), Iraq (2003), Syria (2011), Libya (2011), and who did so much to provoke Russia’s invasion of Ukraine."
"The neocon track record is one of unmitigated disaster, yet Biden has staffed his team with neocons. As a result, Biden is steering Ukraine, the U.S., and the European Union towards yet another geopolitical debacle. If Europe has any insight, it will separate itself from these U.S. foreign policy debacles.”
Sanctions on Russia are not having the intended effect, and have unintended consequences. “The West’s economic sanctions have had little adverse impact on Russia, while their ‘boomerang’ effect on the rest of the world has been large,” he says.
“The real solution is to end the neocon fantasies of the past 30 years and for Ukraine and Russia to return to the negotiating table, with NATO committing to end its commitment to the eastward enlargement to Ukraine and Georgia in return for a viable peace that respects and protects Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
(Cover: Washington DC, USA - FEBRUARY 10 2021: President Joe Biden delivers remarks to Department of Defense personnel, with Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III. Via Shutterstock)