The utilization of military force always commands our attention, especially in countries like the U.S.A. and Germany that uphold personal liberties and democratic governance. Perhaps an invitation should go to Chancellor Angela Merkel, the most powerful woman on Earth, to address the force issue in relation to Ukraine. American citizens need to focus on the moral dimension of deploying our vast military forces abroad, as well as assess whether the killing will work out for our empire and ourselves. We are moral voters in control of a huge military apparatus, but we aren’t sure force effectively stops ISIS and Boko Haram. We are the last empire standing, after all, world-weary global cop with over-stretched resources. Ninety-seven years late, Oswald’s Spengler’s gloomy Decline of the West may be upon us.
If the Russian Federation secretly dispatches some “on leave” soldiers into eastern Ukraine and assists separatists in killing more Ukrainian Army guys from Kiev, as the world’s imperial cop we have to loudly reject Putin’s sly use of force. Angela Merkel of Germany and the French President François Hollande have led the European Union in absolutely renouncing the use of military power against the Russian aggression. Some in NATO want to advance lethal “defensive” weapons to Kiev, including anti-tank missiles, but Merkel and the French will not accept that.
At a February 7 Munich security conference, Chancellor Merkel stated that using military force by beefing up Kiev’s army will not produce the outcome the West desires. “I do think that military means will lead to more victims”, she said, and with support from France, she urged President Obama to hold back on sending additional lethal weapons to the chaotic war zone via NATO.