In recent days it has been impossible to ignore the scenes of Russian troops invading Ukraine. The U.S. and other states, such as Germany and even the typically neutral Switzerland, are joining together to offer various combinations of economic sanctions, providing intelligence and/or weapons to Ukraine.
This situation stems in part from the continued existence and expansion of NATO. A Cold War-era military alliance, NATO not only remained after the Cold War but has strengthened. Russian President Vladimir Putin, in power now for more than 20 years, has consistently expressed his displeasure with NATO expansion, particularly as NATO membership is awarded to former Soviet republics such as Estonia and Latvia. Ukraine seeks NATO membership, but the likelihood of their acceptance prior to the Russian invasion was uncertain.
In no way does any state or regional organization hold any blame for Putin’s actions. Feeling threatened by the continued expansion of a Western alliance close to his borders does not justify the unprovoked invasion of a sovereign state and the brutal attacks on the civilian population of Ukraine. Putin may have sought to rebuild the former Soviet empire regardless of NATO actions or inactions.
Regardless, the world should not be surprised by this invasion. In 2008, Russian troops invaded South Ossetia and Abkhazia in the sovereign state of Georgia during President George W. Bush’s administration with no consequences. In fact, President Barack
Obama administration even offered a “reset” in Russian-U.S. relations upon taking office. Then, in 2014, Russia annexed a portion of Ukraine known as Crimea, and the United States essentially turned a blind eye. Most importantly, not only the United States but the world also simply stood by and watched as Putin ignored international norms and increasingly behaved as an autocratic dictator. Ukraine is now suffering the consequences of the international community placating an authoritarian leader.
Putin assassinates or jails dissidents and opponents, like Alexander Litvinenko, who died from radiation poisoning in 2006. Boris Nemtsov was shot in the back in Moscow in 2015. Sergei Skripal, a former Russian intelligence officer, and his daughter narrowly survived a nerve agent poisoning while living in the United Kingdom in 2018. Alexei Navalny survived a poisoning in 2021 and now sits in a Russian jail. The nongovernmental organization Freedom House investigated instances of transnational repression—governments reaching across international borders to engage in acts of suppression—and found that Russia engaged in assassinations, detentions, renditions and several other authoritarian tactics from 2014 through 2020.
Why do these acts of aggression by Putin matter to the people of the United States and elsewhere? This is certainly not the first instance in history of a state violating international norms. We are not so far removed from World War II that we have forgotten the horrors of that conflict. In recent times, the greatest threat from states emanated from rogue states— states that do not respect international norms or international law. North Korea or Iran, for example.
Allowing Putin to invade sovereign states and kill innocent civilians with weapons intended to inflict mass casualties, such as cluster munitions, is a clear violation of the laws of war and of international humanitarian laws. Accepting this behavior places the security of the world in a precarious situation. Make no mistake: China is watching. Iran is watching. North Korea is watching.
If the international community does nothing to stop Putin from taking Ukraine, world order will be upended, and rogue state behavior will become the norm. A world in which this belligerent behavior is accepted as normal is not a safe or secure world for anyone.
Dr. Laura N. Bell is an assistant professor of political science at West Texas A&M University and the author of the newly released “Targets of Terror: Contemporary Assassination.” The comments here represent her own opinions and not those of WT.