Peace researcher Frida Stranne warns that the West’s strategy in Ukraine has failed miserably and that further escalation risks leading to disastrous consequences – not only for Ukraine but also for Europe and Sweden.
“Do we want to start a new world war before we negotiate?” she asks.
“For two and a half years, the Swedish people have been fed the idea that the West must and can ‘win’ over Russia – without any sharp counter-questions about what is meant by victory, how it should be achieved or at what cost. Now, when the war is being lost, the West chooses to escalate the conflict – an extremely dangerous choice, Stranne, who is an associate professor of peace and development research at Halmstad University, writes in the left-wing magazine Parabol.
She notes how the Swedish strategy of sending more and heavier weapons has not only made Ukraine weaker, but has also jeopardized Europe’s security – despite frequent claims to the contrary by those in power.
Stranne points out that there is every indication that the Ukrainian army is “stuck” and does not have the capacity to defeat Russia, no matter how much money and weapons the West pumps in – while Russia has strengthened its positions.
“Over the course of a few weeks in Washington recently, I spoke to a wide range of policymakers and not one of them, regardless of position or political affiliation, gave any message other than that we have reached the end of the road, that Ukraine cannot continue the war and that it must end in the near future, she continues.
“Jeopardizing the security of all of us”
Despite the growing number of critics and analysts who recognize that the war is unwinnable and that Ukraine is certain to lose large parts of its territory, belligerent voices continue to fuel a further escalation with more and heavier weapons to Kiev and calls for attacks deep inside Russia with long-range weapons.
“Given what we know about the situation in Ukraine, it is obvious that the intention of suddenly allowing the Ukrainian army to use long-range missiles against targets deep inside Russia is to try to get a better starting point in the negotiations that need to be held. But with all the knowledge we have about the dynamics of war, we must also ask ourselves whether we do not see how this contributes to a serious escalation and why our politicians are jeopardizing the security of all of us in this way when the other party is the world’s strongest nuclear power”, Stranne continues.
“An authoritarian leader like Putin cannot afford to see too many red lines crossed before he feels ‘forced’ to act against targets outside Ukraine”.
“Extremely precarious strategy”
According to the peace researcher, it is high time that Swedes stop pretending that the threat of Russian counter-attacks is not real and that our politicians “stop playing this high-stakes game with our collective security at risk”.
“One wonders how many more Ukrainian lives will be lost before we recognize that this path leads no one in a safer direction… And while it is Ukraine’s soldiers and civilians who pay with their lives, it is not only they who face an impossible task, but also ourselves. It is unrealistic to expect the West to keep pumping billions and billions into this war year after year”, she says, pointing out how public opinion has already begun to waver.
She stresses that the US has spent hundreds of billions on wars that could have been avoided – and that this has only resulted in “a weaker domestic political stability”, where a previously unthinkable candidate like Donald Trump could be elected president.
“So it is not only a dangerous and extremely precarious strategy to now escalate the war by imposing new conditions on how Ukraine can attack targets deep inside Russia. By continuing to rely on heavier weapons instead of working towards a ceasefire and negotiations, we risk undermining not only Ukraine’s future, but also our own security”, she said.
