The Moral Darkness of Standing with Ukraine
and other ways to see the world more clearly with history.
The Canadian Parliament stood as one to applaud former Nazi member of the notorious Waffen-SS Galicia Division because he “fought the Russians”. Zelenszky pumped his fist in the air, as he stood by Trudeau, who smiled complicitly. The stage show flopped, and the world came to know the moral darkness of standing with Ukraine.
“Yaroslav Hunka is a Ukrainian Canadian war veteran from the Second World War who fought for Ukrainian independence against the Russians. He is a Ukrainian hero, a Canadian hero, and we thank him for all his service.”
(Anthony Rota, Speaker of the Canadian Parliament, introducing former Nazi member of the Waffen-SS Galicia Division)
Fragments of the Burning Archive is my live journal of historical writing on how we are to live, now, in this time of crisis, war, peace, ruin and fragile hope.
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Before the big story/world history view on the moral darkness of standing with Ukraine, let us take some glimpses at four quadrants of the world crisis: great power rivalry, social fragmentation, political decay and cultural renewal.
World Crisis Glimpses
Great Power Rivalry
The speeches of the five Great States or Superpowers of the world at the UN General Assembly continued. Last week, I reported on USA and the EU. This week, Russia, India and China, along with a speech from the American satrapy of Australia.
Russia. Sergei Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister, addressed the General Assembly on 23 September. Video is here. He emphasised the aggression of the West that contravenes UN Charter principles, and emphasised how “the global majority are strengthening their sovereignty and defending their national interests, traditions, culture, and ways of life. They no longer want to live under anybody’s yoke.”
Perhaps for the first time since 1945, when the United Nations was established, there is now a chance for genuine democratisation of global affairs. This inspires optimism in all those who believe in the rule of law internationally and want to see a revival of the UN as the central coordinating body for global politics – a body where decisions are made by consensus, based on an honest balance of interests. (Sergei Lavrov)
India. Dr S Jaishankar spoke to the General Assembly on 26 September. Video here. He affirmed the success of the G20 New Delhi Summit in returning the world to the path of diplomacy and dialogue.
“The international order is diverse and we must cater for divergences, if not differences. The days when a few nations set the agenda and expected others to fall in line are over.” (Dr S Jaishankar)
He also made the most telling rebuttal of the Western mantra of the rules-based international order
“in our deliberations, we often advocate the promotion of a rules-based order. From time to time, respect for the UN Charter is also invoked. But for all the talk, it is still a few nations who shape the agenda and seek to define the norms. This cannot go on indefinitely. Nor will it go unchallenged.
When reality departs from rhetoric, we must have the courage to call it out. Without genuine solidarity, there can never be real trust. This is very much the sentiment of the Global South.” (Dr S Jaishankar)
He strongly asserted the role of India, that is Bharat, as a civilizational state and mother of democracy.
I speak for a society where ancient traditions of democracy have struck deep modern roots. As a result, our thinking, approaches and actions are now more grounded and authentic. As a civilizational polity that embraces modernity, we bring both tradition and technology equally confidently to the table. It is this fusion that today defines India, that is Bharat. (Dr S Jaishankar)
China. Chinese Vice President Han Zheng spoke on 21 September. Video is here. He emphasised the China can imagine a world with no hegemon (as I emphasised in an earlier substack piece and in this video):
“No matter what stage of development it reaches, China will never practice hegemony and expansion. China will uphold the common values of humanity, that is, peace, development, equity, justice, democracy and freedom, and continue to advance peaceful, open, cooperative and common development.” (Han Zheng)
The speech emphasised the four consistent themes of Chinese diplomacy. First, nations should collectively uphold equity and justice, and safeguard peace and security. Second, the West may view international relations as a great power struggle for dominance, but China seeks mutual benefit, and to “deliver win-win outcomes and achieve development.” Third, the world should support open cultural exchange, and inclusive, diverse human civilizations. Fourth, the world should practise multilateralism more faithfully and improve global governance.
I am curious about Xi Jinping’s Global Civilization Initiative and the strong emphasis in Chinese, Russian and Indian foreign policy statements on real cultural diversity and exchange in the world. Han Zheng said to the General Assembly
Diversity of civilizations is an invaluable asset for human development; indeed, diversity is a defining feature of human civilization. Different countries and civilizations should prosper together by respecting each other, advance together by drawing on each other’s strength, and seek win-win outcomes by pursuing common ground while setting aside differences.
Promoting and protecting human rights is a cause pursued by all countries, and ensuring a good life for people is the ultimate human right. As countries have different histories, traditions and conditions, we must and can only explore a path of human rights development suited to our national conditions in response to the needs of our people. We should advance the international human rights cause through dialogue and cooperation, and oppose politicization and double standard, in particular the use of human rights and democracy as a political tool to interfere in the affairs of other countries. (Han Zheng)
So that is a wrap on the speeches of the major powers at the UN General Assembly. A lot can be learned by following these speeches carefully. Of course, speeches are not actions, but they are narratives about how world leaders see the world, sometimes clearly, sometimes murkily, with history.
Australian readers may want to check my paywalled Big Story/World History View below for a brief comment on the speech by Australian Foreign Minister, Penny Wong.
Political Order
The Zelenszky and Biden bubbles appear to be going to pop. These two leaders will hang together, most likely, and when the bubble bursts Western political orders will be tested.
On the Zelenszky bubble, there are rumbles that key kingmakers in Ukraine and the USA want Zelenszky to step aside. Some commentators speculated that a renewed push for elections (currently banned in that gateway of European democracy) may be a way to push Zelenszky out. There is even speculation that the USA may seek to engineer a leadership change in Ukraine.
On the Biden crash balloon, the primary season is drawing near and Biden’s public performances are increasingly indefensible. Challengers are prowling, but who will dare strike down the old, mad, blind, despised and dying king? His fate is tied to Ukraine in many ways, and military, political and social collapse in Ukraine seems likely in the next twelve months. The ruling American elite will need a scapegoat, and the fall of Kabul and Kiev in one term has marked Biden as a dead king shambling.
Collapse in Ukraine over the next year. Western political orders have stood ardently with Ukraine for two years, and mythologised Zelenzky as a heroic war leader, a 21st century, Churchill. These political orders cannot, however, insulate themselves from the aftershocks of collapse in Ukraine.
Social Fragmentation
Thomas Fazi has written an excellent piece on how the permanent crisis of political order reflects a fragmented society. His piece is prompted by a book by British former Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, titled Permacrisis. The book echoes themes of Adam Tooze’s polycrisis (which have I discussed in a series of articles available to paid subscribers), and Fazi sees both polycrisis and permacrisis as a myth entrenching the power of challenged elites.
“In this sense, the normalisation of the concept of permacrisis could be understood as a response to the loss of legitimacy and authority by Western ruling elites. Unable to generate societal consensus or hegemony, in either material or ideological terms, and increasingly threatened by the rise of new global powers, first and foremost China, they are forced to rely on increasingly repressive and militaristic measures — both domestically and abroad — in order to remain in power and stifle any challenges to their authority. Hence the need for a more or less permanent state of crisis capable of justifying such measures — in other words, permacrisis.” (Thomas Fazi)
He commented that Gordon Brown’s Permacrisis and Adam Tooze’s polycrisis are signs of panic by a leadership elite nearing defeat:
“For ultimately, aside from being a “method of government”, permacrisis neatly encapsulates the panic of Western elites: it is their global order, their dominant position in the global food chain, that is under threat.” (Thomas Fazi)
Cultural Renewal
The Cundill History Prize is one of the world’s leading prizes for historical writing in the English language. It announced its shortlist of eight books this week, and I did a video on both the longlist and the shortlist. Some of these books are quite intriguing. So check out the video for yourself to kindle curiosity about an aspect of world history.
In the meantime, I hope to discover a new writer when the 2023 Nobel Prize for Literature is announced. I checked the betting odds, and discovered that the Australian (indeed Melbourne) writer, Gerald Murnane is among the top five favourites. Could a second Australian win literature’s greatest honour?
Find out with me by joining my live stream on my YouTube channel for the announcement of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Thursday, 5 October, 13:00 CEST at the earliest (in the evening Melbourne time). I will begin 30 minutes or so before the announcement, and post the time here and on YouTube.
World History View
The Moral Darkness of Standing with Ukraine
“Yaroslav Hunka is a Ukrainian Canadian war veteran from the Second World War who fought for Ukrainian independence against the Russians. He is a Ukrainian hero, a Canadian hero, and we thank him for all his service.” (Anthony Rota, Speaker of the Canadian Parliament, introducing former Nazi member of the Waffen-SS Galicia Division)
Anthony Rota, Speaker of the Canadian Parliament, honoured a 98 year old veteran of World War Two who had fought the Russians and struggled for “Ukraine’s independence”. The whole Parliament stood to applaud. They did not ask who he had fought for, nor who he had killed between 1941 and 1945. The Parliament stood as one with Ukraine, and with the moral darkness of their history.
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