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International Relations
Failed By West
Author: – Amitabh Mattoo and Amrita Narlikar
Withdrawal From Afghanistan
- Russian invasion in Ukraine must be taken in the context of the withdrawal of the US and its allies from Afghanistan last
- Handover back to the Taliban was evidence of fundamental policy failures and weakened US commitment and ability.
- The performance in Afghanistan by the US and the Europeans been very chaotic.
- Hence, authoritarian leaders and expansionist states feel more emboldened
War Mongering Announcements
- Biden administration, in the weeks prior to February 24, engaged in announcements that were tantamount to war-mongering.
- US also made public announcements on the expected date of the Russian attack
- While this type of information was essential to share with intelligence agencies of allies and friends
- To go public with such announcements may have created a self-fulfilling
- Even if Putin had not intended to unleash his forces on
- He would have had little choice but to do so after such declarations from the US
No Military Support
- Various friendly countries have provided a variety of assistance to Ukraine, ranging from aid to arms.
- German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, for instance, took the important step of putting the approval process of Nord Stream 2 on
- Words of support and aid may perhaps have given Ukraine a false sense of security and
- But they would not have deterred Putin.
- These words come without military support on the ground (or in the air) likely only increased Russian resolve.
Sanctions Policy
- For all the big talk of sanctions from Western leaders, it is difficult to buy even their limited bite if one looks at the level of dependence of Europe on Russia for
- As one sanctions expert recently tweeted, “No sanctions are ‘nuclear’ in their effect; they’re just not that ”
- Most advocates of sanctions recognise that to see the effects of sanctions, one must exercise patience.
- By Saying that the sanctions will have long term implications for The Russian Economy, will not do any good to Ukrainians who are losing out their lives today!
Question Framed From Editorial
- The Western world seems to be on the “backfoot” in terms of curtailing Russia’s “Expansionist “Policy. Do you agree? (250 words)
UNITED AGAINST THE STRONGMAN
Author: – C Raja Mohan
New Berlin
- German Chancellor Olaf Scholz declared that the Russian invasion of Ukraine marks a “turning point in Europe”.
- Scholz has outlined a five-pronged response —
- Military solidarity with
- Punitive measures against Putin’s
- Vigorous commitment to European Collective Defence through
- German
- Reduction in Germany’s energy and economic interdependence with
Putin’s Romanticism with History
- Putin, who believes that the collapse of the Soviet Union was the “greatest tragedy of the 20th century”,
is not trying to resurrect the USSR.
- He is trying to revive Czarist Russia.
• This would involve making Ukraine and Belarus satellite states and constructing a sphere of influence beyond Central Europe.
- Putin’s overweening ambition — rooted in the “Great Russian chauvinism” – is already running into
- Putin’s claim that Ukraine was never a nation and that it “can be sovereign only in association with
Russia”
Response of European Union
- Even as Scholz chose to devote Germany’s massive resources to defeating
- He has left the door open for diplomacy with
- The EU plans to buy $550 million worth of arms for
- Putin’s Ukraine aggression has united Europe and consolidated the Western alliance
- Germany’s elites have nurtured deep political, cultural, and economic links with their Russian counterparts.
- German trade last year with Russia was close to $66 billion.
- Unlike India, which is tied to Russian military supplies, Germany is
India’s Abstention at UNSC
- Those critical of Delhi’s abstention at the UN on the Ukraine crisis are perhaps unaware of the deep interconnections between Indian nationalism and
- The issues at hand are not just about weapon supplies and the regional balance of power where the interests of India and Russia have tended to
- For a century, Indian progressives of all hues saw Russia as a natural ally in building modern India
- After independence, Moscow was for long seen as a positive factor in India’s geopolitical and security calculus.
- Delhi must recognise that Putin and Russia are not the same!!
Question Framed From Editorial
- Justify India’s abstention at UNSC over the resolution condemning Russia’s Aggression (150 words)
Russia’s International Law Justifications
Author: – Prabhash Ranjan & Achyuth Anil
Use Of Force
- Russian forces marching through Ukrainian soil are a ruthless exhibition of the use of force in international relations, which Article 2(4) of the UN Charter proscribes.
- Bizarrely, Putin claims that he is acting in self-defense as per Article 51 of the UN Charter.
- Article 51 recognises the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense in the case of an armed attack by one state against another
- But there was no ‘imminent’ threat from Ukraine that would have justified Russia’s actions under garb of “Self Defence”.
Rome Statue- ICC
- Putin’s despicable actions are tantamount to committing the crime of aggression as defined under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC)
- The Rome Statute in Article 8b (2) defines an act of aggression to mean any use of force against the sovereignty, territorial integrity, or political independence of another
- Ideally, the aggressor state and its leaders should face international criminal responsibility for
- However, the ICC is unable to exercise jurisdiction unless both the aggressor and victim states are party to the Rome Statute
- With Russia and Ukraine not being a party, the likelihood of legal accountability to the actions of Russia is slim
Responsibility to Protect (R2P)
- Putin indirectly invoked the controversial doctrine of humanitarian intervention, also termed
Responsibility to Protect (R2P), in international law for its actions in Ukraine.
- R2P stems from every state’s responsibility to protect its population from gross violations of human rights.
- It is international community’s responsibility in assisting states to fulfil such
- However this principle has been stretched to justify the use of force by third states in the territory of a state which has failed in its duty to protect its
- There is no evidence that ethnic Russians in Ukraine are facing atrocities that merit a humanitarian intervention.
Russia’s Revisionism
- Russia believes that the world is divided into spheres of influence.
- Thus, one needs to distinguish between countries that are truly sovereign and countries that possess
nominal or limited sovereignty.
- The global community should take note of Putin’s precarious game of resurrecting a ‘Russian
empire.
- Russia’s approach toward international law is that the basis of international law is not universal but cultural and civilizational
Question Framed From Editorial
- International law should be strengthened to constrain arbitrary state power and check imperial Critically Evaluate. 250 words
