The advanced economies of the G7 and the EU have three obvious problems when it comes to stopping Russia’s aggression in Ukraine: dependence on oil, an unwillingness to confront China, and the moral poverty of some business leaders. But there is a deeper weakness – one that is not lost on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
WASHINGTON, DC/KYIV – Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine at the end of February 2022 marked the start of a new geopolitical epoch. Following the end of the Cold War in 1989-91, it was widely agreed that European countries would no longer invade each other. Too many wars over too many centuries had shown that promoting trade and investment is a much better way to build and sustain prosperity. By launching a war of aggression, Russia flagrantly violated that understanding, killing and wounding tens of thousands of civilians in the process.
WASHINGTON, DC/KYIV – Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine at the end of February 2022 marked the start of a new geopolitical epoch. Following the end of the Cold War in 1989-91, it was widely agreed that European countries would no longer invade each other. Too many wars over too many centuries had shown that promoting trade and investment is a much better way to build and sustain prosperity. By launching a war of aggression, Russia flagrantly violated that understanding, killing and wounding tens of thousands of civilians in the process.