Critique against the West’s overwhelming support towards Ukraine is unwarranted

Ukrainian resistance against invading Russian forces has no doubt attracted unprecedented levels of support not just from the west but from across the world. Hypocritical as it appears, this amount of support for Ukraine and pressure towards Russia sets precedent for future aggressors to think twice before they ignite a conflict. From individuals across the world to international governing bodies, the solidarity with Ukrainians is simply undeniable. 

What has been the centre of criticism, however, is the US and its western allies’ support towards Ukraine. The west as expected, has been a key actor in this conflict, though careful not to engage in combat. They warned months ago that the Russian invasion of Ukraine was looming but the more warnings the west sounded, the more criticism they received.

At first, they were accused of ‘war mongering’ and regardless of their accurate warnings, the west is now being criticised for their disproportionate support, having looked away when other countries were being invaded in the past. At worst, the west have been accused of being the lead aggressors themselves.

Whilst this critique sounds welcome, there are a few things we must consider before we miss the point. This is the most significant conflict to be fought on European soil since the second world war. There was always going to be a lot to learn, hundreds of mistakes to make, but most importantly new precedent to set. It is on the latter that I will base my argument and optimism.  

There is a narrative, mostly orchestrated by Russia and their allies, that western countries have been the world’s leading aggressors and violators of international law since World War II (WW II). Whereas this could be true, we indeed saw the west’s questionable interventions in Iraq and Libya in recent history, it doesn’t excuse Putin and Russia to invade other countries. Justifying wrongdoing with another isn’t just childish, but irresponsible.

A Chinese Embassy tweeted saying the US was responsible for over 81 percent of the world’s armed conflicts between WW II and 2001. The Russian Embassy in Uganda tweeted the same, and the commander of Uganda’s land forces, and son of the president also tweeted in apparent justification of the invasion. Some of Russia’s concerns and demands might be legitimate, but at what cost should they be met? Should we just forget about the Ukrainian people, the women and children forced to flee their home just because western countries led conflicts in the past and went unpunished?

At the risk of sounding naïve or too optimistic, I believe we can leverage the precedent set today to hold western nations accountable in future when they try to repeat their past mistakes. Let us not criticise the world for standing in massive solidarity with Ukraine for this is exactly the same solidarity we will demand for the next time Israel bullies Palestine.

We should not attack European nations, including those who previously claimed to be neutral when they send overwhelming financial and military support to Ukraine, for we will hold them accountable next time a giant nation terrorises one of its neighbours. Let us welcome the swift move by the EU to open borders to refugees from Ukraine for this is the standard we expect moving on regarding Syrian, Afghan and all the other refugees from across the world. 

Choosing to only focus on the hypocrisy now is like asking for the support towards Ukraine to stop. We should use the opportunity now that almost all nations are willing and open to compromise, to embrace moves that could shape better foreign and immigration policies in western nations. The UK for example, a country with one the strictest immigration policies is under pressure from its own MPs to review its visa policies for refugees. If successful, this could benefit hundreds of other refugees going to the UK in the future. 

Now that we have seen FIFA and other sports bodies taking a stand to support Ukraine and isolate Russia, we won’t expect any corporate hullaballoo when players like Mesut Ozil and others speak out about Palestine, Yemen and the injustices faced by the Uyghurs in China. 

This global solidarity with Ukraine will help show any future aggressors, be it China, the US, Israel, or Saud Arabia how the rest of the world could look at them. It won’t be business as usual anymore. 

It is important however that we continue to highlight some of the unacceptable wrongs that we have witnessed in this war so far. The media unfortunately have been among the first to fall short of expectation as we continue to see blatant racial biased reporting accompanied by white supremacy undertones.

This is due to the ignorance of certain western journalists who just realised that anyone can be affected by strife, and every human being, no matter where they stay or the colour of their skin, can be forced to flee their home and become a refugee. There have also been reports of racial discrimination towards Africans attempting to cross at Ukrainian borders. This in a way betrays the solidarity Ukraine is receiving from the rest of the world.   

 Aggrey Nyondwa Kikobera, Social and political critic