The analogy persists, nevertheless. Among Westerners it serves several purposes, including providing reasons for continuing to ignore the factors that have inclined Russian leaders to act aggressively. \u00a0If Putin is the new Hitler, his alleged security concerns must be as phony as der Fuhrer\u2019s obsession with the \u201cinternational Jewish conspiracy.\u201d Similarly, Westerners convinced that Putin is purely malicious can dismiss Russian objections to NATO\u2019s vast expansion and the establishment of missile bases in Poland and Romania. \u00a0They can ignore concerns about the overthrow of an elected government in Kyiv by U.S.-supported forces and the killing of thousands of Donbass separatists by that new regime. \u00a0And they can view the Russian leader as a power-mad imperialist, not recognizing for a moment that the United States and Europe together constitute the most powerful imperial alliance in human history.<\/p>\n
The historical factors motivating Russian insecurity and violent behavior are clearly relevant to the current situation. \u00a0They do not furnish acceptable excuses for invading another nation, but they do point in the direction of shared<\/em> responsibility<\/em> for the tragic conflict in Ukraine.\u00a0 That perception is a key to possible peace negotiations. The conflict in Ukraine is a war that must<\/em> end in a negotiated peace, must it not?\u00a0 But if that is true, what is the point of prolonging and escalating it?\u00a0 Aren\u2019t 3 million refugees enough?<\/p>\n These are some of the thoughts that prompted faculty members at the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution to convene a group of foreign affairs specialists and scholars last week at Point of View, the School\u2019s research and conference center, to consider other approaches to this horrifyingly destructive conflict.\u00a0 At the close of discussions, they adopted the following appeal to the conflicting parties in Ukraine:<\/p>\n All parties to this conflict are hurting. \u00a0The costs in human life and suffering are mounting and the damaging effects of the conflict are rippling around the world.\u00a0 It is high time for the parties to agree to an immediate and complete cessation of hostilities.\u00a0 Continuing the struggle inevitably multiplies the damage and poses increasing risks that nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction may be used. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0Along with the U.N. Secretary General, we believe that conditions now exist for negotiating an agreement acceptable to all parties.\u00a0 The parties should therefore set about negotiating a comprehensive peace agreement with no preconditions.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0We call on the international community to support peace as it emerges, offering humanitarian, development, and peacebuilding support for the long-term process of recovery. \u00a0 \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0In addition, it is imperative that all OSCE Participating States commit to a thoroughgoing review of the existing security architecture.\u00a0 This review should begin immediately with a view to updating the Helsinki Final Act and other security agreements at the OSCE\u2019s forthcoming 50th<\/sup>\u00a0Anniversary in Helsinki in 2025. \u00a0<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Signatories of the statement (the list is growing rapidly) include former U.S. ambassadors and foreign policy officers, officials of international organizations, experienced mediators and negotiators, scholar-practitioners, and others who might reasonably be considered practical, realistic people.\u00a0 Even so, many readers of the statement respond by declaring it unrealistic on the grounds that \u201cPutin will never negotiate\u201d or \u201cYou can\u2019t negotiate with dictators like Putin.\u201d\u00a0 This objection is often made in conjunction with declarations that the Russian leader is not a rational calculator of his country\u2019s national interests but a crazed right-wing ideologue obsessed with restoring the Russian empire to its former czarist grandeur.<\/p>\n Conflict resolution specialists will immediately recognize these objections as typical of conflicting parties who have demonized their opponent and sanctified their own cause, and who believe that they can win by continuing a violent struggle. \u00a0They recognize, too, that these attitudes reflect the typical aggressor\/defender syndrome in which each side, having lost trust in the other\u2019s good faith, considers its own position purely defensive and the adversary\u2019s purely aggressive.\u00a0 The victims of historical trauma are particularly inclined to fall prey to this syndrome, which often stands as an obstacle to conflict resolution.<\/p>\n Those attending the Carter School\u2019s round-table discussion noted these problems.\u00a0 They also discussed how best to satisfy Ukraine\u2019s desire for autonomy and independence while responding creatively to Russia\u2019s legitimate security needs and the interests of other parties in the region. \u00a0The conferees disagreed on many points, but on three issues their agreement was clear:<\/p>\n First,<\/strong> the war of attrition in Ukraine must end, and peace negotiations must begin very soon, if not immediately.\u00a0 The steady increase in human suffering and the conflict\u2019s potential to spread and involve weapons of mass destruction make continuation of the war intolerable.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Second,<\/strong> there is nothing that makes this conflict inherently unsolvable.\u00a0 On the contrary, well known principles and precedents suggest a wide variety of alternative terms of settlement once serious negotiations begin.<\/em><\/p>\n Third,<\/strong> a peace agreement between the conflicting parties must be followed immediately by a multi-party process aimed at satisfying the needs of all concerned for a just and sustainable peace in the Russo-European region.\u00a0<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Our unanimous conclusion: It is past time for serious peace negotiations in Ukraine<\/strong>.<\/p>\n **********************************<\/p>\n 23 Mar 2022<\/em> – Peace and Conflict Resolution scholars and foreign affairs practitioners convened at the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School\u2019s Point of View research and retreat facility in Mason Neck, Virginia issued the following appeal to the conflicting parties in Ukraine:<\/p>\n All parties to this conflict are now hurting. \u00a0The costs in human life and suffering are mounting and the damaging effects of the conflict are rippling around the world.\u00a0 It is high time for the parties to agree to an immediate and complete cessation of hostilities.\u00a0 Continuing the struggle inevitably multiplies the damage and poses increasing risks that nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction may be used.<\/p>\n Along with the U.N. Secretary General, we believe that conditions now exist for negotiating an agreement acceptable to all parties.\u00a0 The parties should therefore set about negotiating a comprehensive peace agreement with no preconditions.<\/p>\n We call on the international community to support peace as it emerges, offering humanitarian, development, and peacebuilding support for the long-term process of recovery.<\/p>\n In addition, it is imperative that all OSCE Participating States commit to a throughgoing review of the existing security architecture.\u00a0 This review should begin immediately with a view to updating the Helsinki Final Act and other security agreements at the OSCE\u2019s forthcoming 50th<\/sup>\u00a0Anniversary in Helsinki in 2025.<\/p>\n Signatories are listed below.\u00a0 Others are invited to join the statement and to distribute it freely.\u00a0 For further information, please contact University Prof. Richard E. Rubenstein at rrubenst@gmu.edu<\/a>.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n John M. Evans Jeffrey Sachs Jack F. Matlock, Jr. Richard Falk Alpasian Ozerdem Christopher R. Mitchell Susan H. Allen Richard E. Rubenstein Karina Korostelina Sergey Utkin, Leading Researcher, Primakov Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Russian Academy of Sciences<\/p>\n Daniel Rothbart Prabha Sankaranarayan Hugh DeSantis Sara Cobb Dr. Margarita Tadevosyan Ivan Kislenko Alex van Oss Michael Shank Dr. Lara Olson David Carment Cynthia Lazaroff Omar Grech Rene Wadlow Kevin Avruch Peggy Mason Antonio Carlos da Silva Rosa, M.A. Jake Lynch Diane Perlman John Scales Avery Michael Loadenthal Jeremy Wildeman __________________________________________<\/em><\/p>\n Interestingly, most news sources in the U.S. and Europe continue to attribute Russia\u2019s military difficulties in Ukraine to their own incompetence or Ukrainian heroism, but seldom to the $3.2 billion worth of high-tech weapons that the U.S. has shipped to Kyiv since 2014.\u00a0Joe Biden, of course, is an architect of this de facto Western alliance with Ukraine. What his end game is nobody can say.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[2009,2197,1035,1268,91,818,253,278,254,961,70,92,481],"class_list":["post-207941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editorial","tag-anti-war","tag-biden","tag-eastern-europe","tag-european-union","tag-nato","tag-proxy-war","tag-putin","tag-russia","tag-security","tag-ukraine","tag-usa","tag-violent-conflict","tag-warfare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207941"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207941\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
Negotiate Peace in Ukraine Now!<\/em><\/h3>\n
Point of View Statement on Conflict in Ukraine: Negotiate Peace Now!<\/em><\/h3>\n
\nFormer U.S. Ambassador to Armenia<\/p>\n
\nUniversity Professor at Columbia University<\/p>\n
\nU.S. Ambassador to the USSR, 1987-91<\/p>\n
\nProfessor of International Studies, Emeritus, Princeton University<\/p>\n
\nDean, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for\u00a0Peace and Conflict Resolution, George Mason University<\/p>\n
\nProfessor Emeritus, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for\u00a0Peace and Conflict Resolution, George Mason University<\/p>\n
\nDirector, Center for Peacemaking Practice, George Mason University<\/p>\n
\nUniversity Professor, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for\u00a0Peace and Conflict Resolution, George Mason University<\/p>\n
\nProfessor, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for\u00a0Peace and Conflict Resolution, George Mason University<\/p>\n
\nProfessor, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for\u00a0Peace and Conflict Resolution, George Mason University<\/p>\n
\nPresident and CEO, Mediators Beyond Borders International<\/p>\n
\nFormer career office, U.S. State Department, Author<\/p>\n
\nProfessor, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for\u00a0Peace and Conflict Resolution, George Mason University<\/p>\n
\nResearch Assistant Professor
\nJimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for\u00a0Peace and Conflict Resolution, George Mason University<\/p>\n
\nFulbright Scholar<\/p>\n
\n(Former) Coordinator, Caucasus Area Studies
\nForeign Service Institute<\/p>\n
\nAdjunct Professor at New York University’s Center for Global Affairs and George Mason University’s\u00a0Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution<\/p>\n
\nConsultant, Peacebuilding and Conflict Sensitive Development
\nResearch Fellow, Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies (CMSS),\u00a0University of Calgary,\u00a0Canada<\/p>\n
\nProfessor of International Affairs
\nFellow, Institute for Peace and Diplomacy, University of Calgary<\/p>\n
\nFounder and Director, Women Transforming Our Nuclear Legacy<\/p>\n
\nDirector, Centre for the Study and Practice of Conflict Resolution, University of Malta<\/p>\n
\nPresident, Association of World Citizens<\/p>\n
\nHenry Hart Rice Professor of Conflict Resolution Emeritus
\nProfessor of Anthropology Emeritus, George Mason University<\/p>\n
\nFormer Canadian Ambassador for Disarmament to the United Nations
\nCurrent President of the Rideau Institute<\/p>\n
\nEditor, Transcend Media Service<\/p>\n
\nAssociate Professor, Peace and Conflict Studies
\nThe University of Sydney<\/p>\n
\nU.S. Convener, TRANSCEND-A Peace Development Environment Network<\/p>\n
\nShared the 1995 Nobel Peace Prize for organizing the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs; Professor Emeritus at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark<\/p>\n
\nExecutive Director, The Peace and Justice Association<\/p>\n
\nAdjunct Professor, Adjunct Professor at the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies, Carleton University; and in International Development Studies, Trent University<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Richard-E.-Rubenstein-e1512383079779.jpeg\")
<\/a> <\/em>Richard E. Rubenstein is a member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace Development Environment<\/a> and a professor of conflict resolution and public affairs at George Mason University\u2019s Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter Center for Peace and Conflict Resolution. A graduate of Harvard College, Oxford University (Rhodes Scholar), and Harvard Law School, Rubenstein is the author of nine books on analyzing and resolving violent social conflicts. His most recent book is <\/em>Resolving Structural Conflicts: How Violent Systems Can Be Transformed (Routledge, 2017). <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"