As I see the blanket coverage of the crisis in Ukraine, I see a double standard, one with negative consequences. I do not begrudge the Ukrainian people anything. What is happening to them is horrific. It’s war crimes. It deserves our attention. However, far more people may die from starvation because of the Ukraine war than civilians from bombs. This isn’t just a moral problem. Dramatic rises in food prices are destabilizing. Not enough is being done to rally the world to ensure that the World Food Program is able to meet people’s needs. The world community faces a tragedy on the other side of the world that is a humanitarian catastrophe on an even larger scale than that of Ukraine.
This, in turn, creates another potential complication. It encourages developing nations to buy from Russia on the black market and refuse to cooperate with sanctions. If common people in the developing world see America as indifferent to their suffering, and conclude that the West cares only about people with light skin, they are going to be more likely to accept anti-West Russian disinformation. Sanctions are going to contribute to rising food prices at a time when people around the world face starvation. Even if the impact is small, people are going to need to know that the US and its allies care about the consequences of their forgien policy for all people the world over. Otherwise, people in the developing world have no reason to support the West. We will make allies for our adversary. Now is the time to win hearts and minds. America can’t do that if starving people blame US forieng policy for their hungry children. This isn’t just a question of sanctions and money. The more allies Putin has the less he will feel like a pariah, and the more emboldened he will be.
There is an even greater consequence to the global double standard–the Ukraine war itself. Putin’s actions are nothing new. The only thing that has changed is the way the West has chosen to respond. In terms of tactics and conduct, the Chechen War was a near carbon copy of the war in Ukraine. And, yet, the response of the international community then was abysmal. Chechnya was not on anybody’s radar. If we had seen the kind of outpouring we see now, then, we would all be living in a different, (and better) world.
Not to mention Syria. The global double standard blinded the West to consequences of the war for world stability. Many felt sorry for the Syrians and agreed to take some of them in, but in the end refused to take the kind of actions we are taking in Ukraine. Even when chemical weapons were used, the West did not rally the world as we have now. Over time, Syria and Chechnya both ceased to be top foreign policy issues. This was not just morally wrong; the unintended consequence was an emboldened dictator and a war close to home.
Progressive Without Apology 