What happens if there's war?
For a moment, it seemed diplomacy would win the day when Russia announced its troops were pulling back from Ukraine's border on Wednesday. But President Biden remains unconvinced and on Thursday warned that the possibility of a Russian invasion of Ukraine remains "very high." By Saturday, artillery fire by separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine had prompted thousands to flee across the border into Russia, with the United States characterizing the developments as potential pretext for an attack. |
So what might deter Russia? "Though sanctions are far from a perfect solution, they're the only alternative to either armed conflict or acquiescence to Russian aggression," Peter Coy argued in his newsletter last week. "The consideration of such extreme measures reflects America's abandonment of hope that Putin can be cajoled into becoming a responsible player on the world stage." |
Whatever happens, the stakes will stretch far beyond politics. "To an ethnic Russian who came of age in the twilight of the Soviet Union, nothing feels more absurd than the idea of war between Russia and Ukraine," writes Anastasia Edel. "Conflict between Ukraine and Russia would travesty centuries of commingling — like me, millions of Russians have Ukrainian relatives and vice versa — and draw to a bloody close the generative entwinement of cultures. It would be, quite simply, a tragedy." |
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