Putin and the Law of Unintended Consequences

by Amir Taheri • March 6, 2022 at 4:00 am The most striking illustration of this so far is the debunking of Putin's brazen claim that there is not and has never been a Ukrainian nation and that Ukraine is nothing but Russia misspelled. Putin insisted that Ukraine was nothing but a creation of Lenin, ignoring the fact that it was Lenin who signed away Ukraine to the Germans in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Ukrainians have suddenly realized that looking east towards Russia means suffering invasion and colonization, while looking west towards Europe could mean freedom and prosperity... Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was reflecting his people's wishes when he asked for immediate membership in the European Union. The current crisis, however, showed that the Europeans can take the lead in being much tougher than the Americans under the risk-averse Joe Biden. For 20 years, the Putin wolf played grandmother in disguise. That disguise enabled him to get away with invading Georgia, dominating Belarus, massacring Syrians, propelling the mullahs of Tehran, annexing Crimea, taking joyrides in various parts of Africa, poisoning people in Europe, and trying to disrupt elections in several countries through cyber-attacks. All that time, almost a quarter of his income came from oil and gas sales to Western democracies -- oil and gas produced thanks to Western capital, technology, management and marketing. Ukrainians have suddenly realized that looking east towards Russia means suffering invasion and colonization, while looking west towards Europe could mean freedom and prosperity. There were no lines of Ukrainians seeking asylum in Russia or Belarus; the long queues were at the Polish and Romanian borders. Pictured: Refugees from Ukraine line up to enter Poland at the Medyka border crossing on February 28, 2022. (Photo by Wojtek Radwanski/AFP via Getty Images) As Russian President Vladimir Putin's war on Ukraine enters its third week, the naughty little law of unintended consequences is lifting its head above the parapet. The most striking illustration of this so far is the debunking of Putin's brazen claim that there is not and has never been a Ukrainian nation and that Ukraine is nothing but Russia misspelled. Putin insisted that Ukraine was nothing but a creation of Lenin, ignoring the fact that it was Lenin who signed away Ukraine to the Germans in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Continue Reading Article