Linas Linkevicius: Another litmus test for transatlantic resilience

[sparkmann]

"Linas Linkevicius: Unless we cure our naivete toward Russia’s intentions & behavior & begin to see things as they are-and act accordingly-we are bound to end up with history repeating itself, with more countries crippled & human destinies destroyed.

August is rife with tragic historical anniversaries which remind us of the lessons we have not learned: Ten years of the Russian aggression against Georgia; 50 years since the Soviet tanks crushed the peaceful protests in Prague; 79 years since the notorious Molotov-Ribbentrop pact that sealed the fate of millions of Europeans and turned the peaceful lands into “bloodlands,” to borrow Timothy Snyder’s phrase.

While the horrendous lessons of World War II and the urge to ensure “Never again” gave rise to the institutions which are at the core of the our world today, such as the North Atlantic Alliance, or NATO, (and the European Union), the more recent events demonstrate we are still failing to hold the perpetrators to account.

Let us look back at Russia’s invasion of Georgia in 2008. The late Ronald Asmus called it “The Little War That Shook the World.” But did it shake, really? Unchecked in Georgia, Russia cynically and illegally annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea and stirred up a bloodshed in Donbass. Now Russia is taking further steps by taking over control of the Azov Sea — as if these were Russia’s backwaters. While in Georgia, Russia’s creeping occupation and de facto annexation of the Georgian territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia continue.

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Another litmus test for transatlantic resilience | The Washington Times

Conventional wisdom has it that symbols in politics matter. History tends to repeat itself, especially if we fail to learn its lessons.

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