The other day practicing Russian philosopher Volodymyr Pastukhov wondered about “a powerful psychological block” in the minds of Ukainians regarding two options for ending the war other than restoring the country to its 1991 borders.
The consciousness of Ukrainians is trapped inside a rather strange dichotomy, the origin of which is not entirely clear to me: either return all occupied territories (victory), or seek peace in exchange for territories (defeat).
If the interlocutor does not take the position of “war until the complete and final liberation of territories,” he/she is immediately branded as a supporter of “peace in exchange for territories,” and therefore a defeatist, because there can be no peace in exchange for territories, since Putin will never stop there and can’t be trusted.
The only option under discussion is "war until complete liberation of territories." If you continue to persist and doubt the achievability of this goal, then you are once again branded as pushing for "peace in exchange for territories… It is practically impossible to break out of this vicious circle of syllogisms, since no one cares about logic in this matter.
He points out that liberation of the occupied territories is not equal to victory and does not mean the end of the war. If Russia does not evaporate and fall apart, “it will continue the war with tripled energy.” In other words, if Ukraine succedes in liberating occupied areas, Russia will not stop fighting.
There is an unspoken but deeply rooted belief in the Ukrainian consciousness that if they reach their borders, the Putin’s regime will falter and collapse, a revolution or a coup will occur in Russia, after which Russia will fall apart and will be demilitarized and, yes, denazified too, by valiant allied forces, who will first of all take away its nuclear weapons.
The formula of defeat, according to Pastukhov, is that peace can be exchanged for territories.
Outside of the newspaper chatterboxes who write about this more often selfishly than selflessly, no one really believes in this. Peace can only be exchanged for security guarantees (what kind and from whom is a very big question), that is, for force. Whether territories can be exchanged for security guarantees, that is, for the support of the strong, and most importantly, whether it is necessary — this is precisely the topic for a broad discussion and bargaining, not with Russia, but with those who can provide these security guarantees.
He says two key questions should be discussed:
Are Ukraine’s partners ready to provide effective security guarantees to Ukraine at all, and not the ones in the Budapest Agreement?
If so, is it necessary to temporarily abandon the goal of liberating Russia-occupied areas of the country as the price for providing such guarantees?
Z and his potent managers are about as logical as as Putin is bound by rationality. The either-or fallacy observed by Pastukhov presents two options — victory or defeat — as the only possibilities, while in reality more alternatives exist. The oversimplification is misleading, because it presents a choice between two extremes, disregarding other viable options. The hypothetical “vicious circle of syllogisms” Ukrainians are trapped in are examples of logical, deductive reasoning (two premises followed by a conclusion).
We, at least I, certainly can’t be accused of that.
Answering two questions at the end, Ukraine’s partners are not willing to provide security guarantees, and the goal of liberating Russia-occupied areas of the country will not be foresaken, even if they were willing.
“The US republic is in danger, and a startling share of America is unbothered,” concludes Edward Luce in an op-ed appearing in the Financial Times1.
Finally, ending on a positive note, 1,500 more dead or wounded Russian invaders.
America isn’t too worried about fascism. Harris is correct that the republic is in danger but that message may not suffice to prevent a Trump victory (The Financial Times, October 29, 2024)
Did you actually buy this imminent end of democracy lie? If so do you think I am a floating piece of garbage? That POS Biden does. If you honestly believe that, I will never comment again.