No one conflict precisely mirrors another.
asserted
conflict → mirror → another
Yet Donald Trump’s shameless appeasement of Vladimir Putin carries more than a noxious whiff of Neville Chamberlain’s failed attempt in Munich in 1938 to head off war with Nazi Germany.
asserted
appeasement → carry → Germany
To be fair to the former UK prime minister – and history largely hasn’t been – his peacemaking efforts had the enthusiastic backing of most people in Britain and France who, like him, were desperate to avoid a repeat of the horrors of the first world war.
asserted
who → have → war
Trump enjoys no equivalent public support for his treachery.
asserted
Trump → enjoy → treachery
Nor does he face the prospect of a US war with Russia.
asserted
he → face → Russia
US-Russian talks on agreeing the shoddy terms of a precedent-setting American sell-out of Ukraine are at an advanced stage, after meetings in St Petersburg this week.
asserted
talks → agree → Petersburg
Trump has zigzagged over the war ever since returning to office.
asserted
Trump → zigzag → office
Now, panicked by record-low poll ratings, he seems determined to scapegoat Ukraine and force its de facto capitulation.
asserted
he → panic → capitulation
Recent steps – his shocking decision to fund Putin’s war machine by buying Russian diesel, his waiving of tougher sanctions, his mysterious, lethal interruptions in US satellite and intelligence sharing with Kyiv, and his renewed attempt to oust Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy – mark Trump out as the skulking Judas, the craven Brutus of the modern age.
asserted
steps → fund → age
He makes Chamberlain look like a man of iron principle.
asserted
Chamberlain → make → principle
All that’s lacking is an umbrella.
asserted
that → lack → ?
Why does Trump act this way?
asserted
Trump → act → ?
Partly, it’s personal.
asserted
it → ’ → ?
He doesn’t like Zelenskyy and it’s obvious why.
asserted
it → like → Zelenskyy
Ukraine’s leader is everything he is not: courageous, principled, morally unimpeachable, hard-working and politically savvy.
asserted
he → work → ?
Partly, it’s money and power.
asserted
it → ’ → ?
Trump has set his shrivelled, grasping heart on normalising relations with Putin’s repressive rogue regime, opening the way for lucrative deals on energy, raw materials, and control of the Arctic and outer space.
asserted
Trump → set → Arctic
He likes the idea of a world dominated by three all-powerful blocs and authoritarian leaders: himself, Putin and China’s Xi Jinping.
asserted
He → like → blocs
And partly it’s the unexplained, sinister hold Putin appears to exercise over this former society playboy, New York real-estate developer and serial bankrupt.
asserted
Putin → ’ → playboy
Whatever Trump’s motivations, the short-term consequences of his betrayal are potentially fatal for Ukraine’s bid to repel the Russian invaders and survive as a sovereign democratic state.
asserted
consequences → repel → state
For much of this year, Ukraine has been winning, or at least holding its own, in the contested lands of the Donbas and along the Black Sea littoral.
asserted
Ukraine → win → littoral
More than that, by using homemade missiles and drones, it has taken the fight to Russia’s industrial heartlands and oil refineries, significantly undermining Putin’s ability to fund his war.
asserted
it → use → war
Zelenskyy has also been winning the battle for international opinion, particularly in Europe, which itself is under escalating Russian hybrid attack.
asserted
which → win → attack
Amid Trump’s egregious backsliding, European nations have taken the lead in supporting Kyiv militarily, financially and diplomatically.
asserted
nations → take → Kyiv
It’s hard not to wonder whether there’s a connection between Trump’s sudden, divisive, decisive lurch towards unabashed support for Putin and the fact that Russia, suffering unsustainable battlefield casualties, severe economic damage and deepening international isolation, is at increased risk of regime-toppling humiliation.
asserted
Russia → ’ → humiliation
Whatever the truth, Trump’s Putin bailout – his duplicitous Russia rescue act – could turn the tide.
uncertain
bailout → turn → tide
Trump’s perfidy is the shame of the world, and it is the world – and not only Ukraine – that will pay the price over the longer term.
asserted
that → pay → term
This calculated attempt to force Kyiv’s submission imperils everyone.
asserted
attempt → force → everyone
Ukraine, if it is allowed to fall, will haunt Europe and the wider geopolitical biosphere for decades, as was the case with Czechoslovakia after 1938.
asserted
case → allow → 1938
Trump’s Molotov-Ribbentrop-style pact with a warmongering dictator, an indicted war criminal, a smirking, bigoted mass murderer, may fatally compromise the western alliance and spell the end of Nato as an effective defence against eastern totalitarianism.
uncertain
pact → warmongere → totalitarianism
Who among the democratic governments of western Europe, in the Elysée, in the German and Polish chancelleries, in Brussels or in Downing Street, can now trust a word that comes out of Washington?
asserted
that → trust → Washington
Its bond is broken, its honour in shreds.
asserted
honour → break → shreds
Trump’s betrayal follows a pattern of lesser treacheries: arbitrary tariff wars waged against trading partners, the traducing of loyal allies, threats against Canada and Greenland, abandonment of a two-state solution in Palestine and most recently, his disastrous war against Iran – the real reason why US midterm voters, facing inflated fuel prices, are turning against him and his Republicans.
asserted
voters → follow → him
As MI5 has warned, Britain and Europe are under daily attack from Russia, its spy networks, saboteurs, cyber warriors and paid agents.
asserted
Britain → warn → Russia
Reports this week suggest it is menacing western space satellites, too.
asserted
it → suggest → satellites
He’s on the other side.
asserted
He → ’ → side
A Putin victory, accepted and facilitated by the US, would fatefully damage respect for international law and sovereign borders.
asserted
victory → accept → law
Untold numbers of war crimes and crimes against humanity would go uninvestigated and unpunished in a partitioned, fractured Ukraine.
asserted
numbers → go → Ukraine
China and others might soon follow the precedent established by successful Russian aggression.
uncertain
China → follow → aggression
For all these reasons, Britain and its European allies can no longer afford to hold back.
asserted
Britain → afford → reasons
…and 9 more, not listed.
The Aporia
