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Belly-Aching

European nations have already shown little stomach for a tough line on Russian bullying of Ukraine and Georgia. ~Ida Garibaldi Whenever I read lines like this, I wonder what the author could possibly mean. European nations have little stomach for backing irrational policies for which they alone will have to pay the price? Yes, this […]

European nations have already shown little stomach for a tough line on Russian bullying of Ukraine and Georgia. ~Ida Garibaldi

Whenever I read lines like this, I wonder what the author could possibly mean. European nations have little stomach for backing irrational policies for which they alone will have to pay the price? Yes, this is true. They have little stomach for backing unnecessary expansions of a defunct Alliance into countries that for most of the modern period were part of Russian territory? They are guilty as charged. Europeans are not interested in jeopardizing their own access to energy for the sake of unrealistic fantasies of a North Atlantic alliance that borders on the eastern shores of the Black Sea? No doubt. They are unwilling to put their necks on the line for the nationalist aspirations of a hot-headed demagogue who likes provoking one of the major nuclear powers on the planet? That is surprising.

Taking a “tough line” could have real consequences for Europeans in ways that simply don’t apply to America. It is always a good idea to remember this, and it would quite useful to understand that continued pressure for NATO expansion into these countries could provoke the Russian use of energy as leverage. For the most part, Russian “bullying” of Ukraine with respect to energy has been a matter of cutting subsidies for Ukraine, which means that Ukrainians are finally starting to pay something closer to the market price for a commodity they are used to getting for very low prices. Naturally, having become accustomed to cheaper prices, Ukraine has fought such moves, which has led to occasional interruptions in supply. How this is solely or primarily Russia’s fault must continue to elude us.

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