When a country, any country, invades another country, whatever country, the country being invaded and lots of people who think like the country being invaded say things like:
“That is contrary to the principle of sovereignty; the principles set down in the UN Charter, in the articles of war, in constitutions, in treaties, in agreements, in human rights, in the Geneva Conventions, the North Atlantic Treaty,” or whatever. Principles fly around the airwaves with greater frequency than F16s fly around the air, or bombs get in people’s hair.
Principles are not deadly, but they can cause death. The principles of Lebensraum and Herrenvolk caused death, for instance.
When the country who is invaded starts to repel the country doing the invading, then principles seem to get cast off like raiment. The invader must be destroyed at all costs, regardless of any principle. Its people must be incentivised to rise up in rebellion, prevented from dodging the draft regardless of any principle. This situation or that situation in the past is different to this situation now. And, to be sure, future situations in which those who abandon principle are involved will no doubt be very different from this situation or from any previous situation.
And, when those who want to barricade Russians in their country and make the Russians face up to their leader are themselves facing up to poor leadership at home, no doubt they will bravely arm themselves for the domestic battle, and not pack up and take the next flight outtathere. Because they live by principle, not expediency. Isn’t that how it is?
When a principle becomes as malleable as all that, it ceases to be a principle — it’s just a cudgel, like the ones used by the invader when he invades. Maybe that’s right. If they invade, they may justifiably face being cudgelled to death afterwards. That way, they won’t invade again.
Some say that Russia needs cudgelling to death because they’ve been this way for 400 years. And others say they shouldn’t be cudgelled, otherwise they will be this way for the next 400 years.
One principle holds true through all of this. If you want to get a building contract after the war, it’s best to blow with the wind and forget all your principles. That way, whether Russia wins or Ukraine wins, the building contract is secure. That means that principles are for others, not for ourselves, and we may change the principles that others live by at our whim. After all, they are our principles, aren’t they? We made them up. Copyright.
This conflict is one of three major events in my life that taught me so much. The others were 9/11 and Covid. It has taught me much about Russia, and Ukraine. But mostly, about the rest of the world. One thing I’m still not sure about: if something is too good to believe, is it? Really? Does that hold true — like an immutable principle?
People should decide how they want the rest of the world to live. And then live that way themselves.