The war resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine will hopefully be shortly over. Too many lives have been lost. A country shattered.
Resources have been squandered. They could have easily been put to good use in combatting poverty and under-development as well as in the essential improvement of the infrastructure of peace.
This war and the resulting devastation were in effect a partial re-enactment of the 1960s Cuban crisis, this time, however, on European soil. Fortunately, then, US President John F. Kennedy and Soviet leader Nikita Khruschev agreed to end the crisis before it got any worse.
But even then, we still had an invasion, a US invasion which failed at the Cuban Bay of Pigs. Then it was the United States of America worried with the enemy on its doorstep: a Soviet base of medium range ballistic missiles in Cuba aimed directly at the United States of America. Now it was Russia, with NATO breathing down its neck as a result of the eastward expansion of NATO. First Georgia and the Crimea. Now Ukraine.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine is a war of aggression. It is also the direct result of a gross NATO miscalculation on the geopolitical chessboard.
Apparently, no one seems to make an effort to learn the lessons of history.
I remember, during the Cuban crisis in late 1962, listening to and trying to understand adults speaking worryingly on the dangers of a developing nuclear confrontation over a period of thirteen days. As a six-year old child, living in Malta, then still a British military base, I could hardly understand anything that was being said, except the worry written on the faces of all people around, and the constant prayers to be delivered from it all!
A basic lesson of history is that war and war mongering, at the end of the day, are of no benefit to anyone, except, that is, to those that deal in arms. However, from what is being reported, it seems that Presidents Trump and Putin are moving towards a different sort of agreement: they seem to be in agreement that Russia retains under its control the occupied areas of Ukraine. This is outrageous, and, as evidenced in the contrasting positions taken this week at the United Nations, will be a point of contention for many years to come.
The concessions to Putin which President Trump is reportedly negotiating, assume considerable significance if viewed within the framework of the transactional nature of Trumpian politics, a central feature of the developing Trump doctrine.
The founding fathers of the EU must have turned in their graves many a time during these last three years. Their project for peace, a United Europe, rising from the World War II ruins, was at times being transformed into a war machine. This is quite different from the European Union which most of us in Malta opted to join.
In these turbulent times, it makes a lot of sense if our Parliament finds some time for a serious discussion on Malta's security and defence policy. The last time the matter was on Parliament's agenda it took only 69 seconds to approve a motion which authorised Parliament to seek associate membership of NATO's Parliamentary Assembly. None of the Members of Parliament was then available to discuss how this associate membership starkly contrasts with article 1 of the Constitution of Malta. It not only contrasts with our constitutional neutrality, but, specifically, it is also in contrast with the duty not to be associated with a military alliance.
It is not only Russia's behaviour which is threatening. US President Donald Trump, during the past month, has been very clear in communicating his bullying message relative to the Panama Canal and Greenland. He has also publicly made it clear that the use of force is not excluded in ensuring that the United States of America gets its way.
The Russian presence in the Mediterranean Sea is another reality. It is currently alternating its attention between the Tartus military base in Syria and the various military facilities in Libya, including a naval base. Another potential problem, right on our doorstep. Yet both government and the Opposition are completely silent about the matter.
How does all this impact us as a neutral country? Who shall come to our defence should the need for this arise? Remember, nations do not have friends. They only have interests.
An architect and civil engineer, the author is a former Chairperson of ADPD-The Green Party in Malta. [email protected] , http://carmelcacopardo.wordpress.com