Shlomo Ben-Ami — Let Russia Be Russia

More involving the liberal paradox of forcing others to accept one's own version of liberalism, which is illiberal. The reality is that many other cultures view American culture as based on not freedom but license, and they reject its fundamental premises. The conflict of over fundamental values and seeking to impose the values of one society on another.

In his famous “X” article, published in 1947, George F. Kennan argued that the Soviet Union’s hostility toward the United States was virtually inexorable, given that it was rooted not in a classic conflict of interest between great powers, but in a deep-seated nationalism and insecurity. The same could be said of the current conflict between Vladimir Putin’s Russia and the West: It is, at root, a collision between the West’s supposedly universal values and Russia’s quest for a distinct identity.…

More broadly, Putin’s defiance of US hegemony could attract support from countries and peoples worldwide that resent American-imposed values and norms.

Project Syndicate
Let Russia Be Russia
Shlomo Ben-Ami | former Israeli foreign minister and Vice President of the Toledo International Center for Peace