Last week’s US-Ukraine spat between Trump-Vance and Volodymyr Zelenskyy was not just good TV; it was the true enema this country—and the world—needed. It was a necessary reset and rethinking for the global public about Russia, European policy dynamics, and the extent to which ideological drive should overrule political, cultural, and economic realities in war.
For the last four years, the American public has been subjected to repeated gaslighting that the regional and ethnic conflict between Ukraine and Russia would build up into World War III, and every good democracy must rise and defend Ukraine’s territorial integrity … at all costs.
Is all this hyperventilating legitimate?
Churchill described Russia as “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.” Why the confusing questions? Russia has been an ally at times, suppressing Napoleon’s self-aggrandizement in the early 1800s. Russia sided with the Western Allies during World War II but opposed us viciously during the Cold War. They fight against Islamic terror in their own regions, but they prop up Islamic dictatorships in the Middle East.
Russia is not so much a mystery if we only recognize that its leaders are doing what they think is best for themselves. That is an amoral political calculation, conflicting with the rules-based order that the United States and other Western European liberal governments. Of course, this “rules-based” system was suffused with American national self-interest.
Thus, self-serving liberal Western elites want to solve the Russian riddle with an answer that suits them. What does that make Ukraine? A literal margin country (Ukraine means “border” or “periphery”) straddling this frictional conflict. The stringent attempt to answer the riddle, to resolve the mystery with a wrong answer, is costing lives, though.
Add to this confusion the calculating corporate media. They played up the decade-long farce that Russia has been controlling United States (and other European) elections. They turned Russia into a useful bogeyman to accuse someone of wrongdoing. When the general public doesn’t know much or gets too much misinformation about a country, it’s easier to blame them for everything.
Ukrainians are not Russians, but there are ethnic Russian enclaves in Ukraine. Deep rancor understandably persists between these peoples beyond basic ethnic prejudices. Holodomor, anyone? Nazi-allied groups rallied against the Soviets during World War II, and the stench of that legacy cannot be ignored. Russia's minority groups face ongoing persecution in Eastern Ukraine, and Vladimir Putin wants to make himself the savior of all Russian peoples, including the ones living outside of Russia proper.
Does fighting in Ukraine serve American interests? Yes, some conservative and liberal commentators claim. They have proffered staunch arguments that an unchecked Russia will lead to more aggression. Anti-communist activists like the renowned Trevor Louden have cogently made their case (whom I interviewed to get greater insight on the whole conflict). “If Russia gets parts of Ukraine, what’s to stop them from Poland? Going after Turkey?”
Frankly, I am not too worried about further Russian aggression. That oversized gas station with a nuclear arsenal was the main power behind the throne of Bashar al-Assad—and Assad fled power last year. Putin taking Poland would be the reverse of Hitler, i.e., the German genocidal tyrant destroyed his political hegemony in Europe by attacking Russia, and Russia would harm itself by trying to extend further incursions into Europe.
Too many foreign policy wonks view the current contest through the lens of World War II or America’s botched efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Every foreign conflict must be reviewed on its own merits, not just through the lens of past failed or successful military ventures.
And that brings us to the revealing Vance-Zelenskyy exchange in the Oval Office.
“With respect,” Vice President JD Vance countered President Zelenskyy, “I think it's disrespectful for you to come to the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media.”
Exactly. The real fight for diplomacy must take place behind closed doors. Heads of state have to let their hair down and their guard up. Such blunt Realpolitik is not pretty, but it’s necessary, and sound-bite media culture undermines efforts to strike a compromise.
“Right now, you guys are forcing conscripts to the front lines because you have manpower problems.”
There aren’t enough Ukrainians to repel every Russian, and some of the Ukrainians ARE Russians. There’s no ignoring this fact.
“You should be thanking the president for trying to bring an end to this conflict.”
“With respect” … Vance’s first two words deserve our gratitude.
For the first time in four, perhaps twenty-four years, the United States is commanding respect on the world’s stage—a respect tempered with realism (think Brent Scowcroft) and some isolationist humility (think Pat Buchanan).
The United States can help ease conflicts, restore order, and resume profitable trade and commercial interests with Eastern Europe. But what interest is there in continuing the fight?
Zelenskyy and his fawning Western elitist ilk disrespectfully expect us to pick up the tab for the Ukraine conflict fight, all while the United States is struggling to restore its own constitutional framework and free enterprise economic system. This is not our fight but rather Europe’s. Instead of holding onto globalist fantasies to avoid military conflict, citizens of European countries must rekindle their national self-preservation.
Beyond all the chatter about Zelenskyy’s not dressing appropriately or his brusque retort to Vance’s push of true diplomacy, last week’s surprising exchange, which is not getting enough attention, is that for the first time in decades (if ever), heads of state had a real clash of ideas and outcomes: no more petty niceties, no more treacly talking points. We witnessed real men in the White House stand up for American interests and put Ukraine’s leadership in its place. The United States is a global power, but it’s no longer our job to protect the globe.
Every other nation needs to pull its weight and make the most of the cards dealt to them, and even Zelenskyy has to acknowledge that.
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