The West over-reacting to Russia situation

By Lethbridge Herald on February 2, 2022.

Editor:

Much to our peril often we ignore or are not cognizant of some basic truths regarding human behaviour.

In context of the present day crisis in Russia/Ukraine, we should remember that Russians are also humans who have insecurities, fears and mistrust, very much like us.

After the dissolution of USSR, in the Nineties, the countries that were previously a part of Russian sphere of influence slowly became free from Russian grip. All of these nations that surrounded Russia’s western border have joined NATO.

That means right now, excepting Belarus and Ukraine, all the other nations at the helm of Russia belong to the Western Bloc. It has created a precarious imbalance of power in that region as far as Russia is concerned, resulting in a deep sense of insecurity among Russians.

If Ukraine also joins NATO, Russia will be completely besieged by NATO. The sense of fear and insecurity is a natural response to this dangerous geopolitical reality.

Let us imagine if Germany (or some other Western European nation) was surrounded by pro-Russian nations on their eastern border, how would their citizens feel? Placing ourselves in other’s shoes improves our understanding and gives us a better prospective of the other person’s truth.

Putin has assured the West that he is not going to invade Ukraine. His demand is that Ukraine should not join NATO.

As far as Ukraine is concerned, it is irrelevant whether it joins NATO officially or not. The West is ready to protect it against any Russian aggression, as has become obvious.

Biden and the rest of the west is over-arching and over-reacting, a common knee jerk response thereby endangering world stability.

The Ukrainian president is requesting the Western powers to cool it because he understands Russians more than anybody else around the western world.

It would be rational and reasonable to believe that humans we classify as our enemy are also humans like us. Understanding them as such would enhance world peace.

Ramma Sawhney

Lethbridge