The prospect of global destruction in the Cold War has faded from people’s consciousness, but the prospect of living on a nuclear wasteland remains.
The prospect of global destruction in the Cold War has faded from people’s consciousness, but the prospect of living on a nuclear wasteland remains.
Well, yes and no.
We COULD have created a world in which security guarantees backed by major powers and/or alliances could serve as an effective guarantee of territory and sovereignty. All it would have taken is the geopolitical will to actually meaningfully assist Ukraine way back in 2014. But we didn’t, and here we are.
Oh absolutely.
But again, at the end of the day, the treaty is still a piece of paper, and the backing would only hold until the next megalomaniac rises to power, decides you’re its next victim because fuck you that’s why, and has the military might to back it up.
It’s one of those weird paradoxes. If world leaders are sincerely interested in world peace, treaties are a formality that are barely even necessary. If our world leaders are the Donald Trumps and Vladmir Putins of the world, treaties are worthless pieces of paper.
It’s all about credibility.
If the promises/threats backing any geopolitical agreement aren’t seen as realistic, actionable, and credible, then the promises/threats are not meaningful.
Side note: what the US is doing right now is setting the credibility we’ve built up over a literal century on fire.