In Search of Monsters — How Do We Look?

We as Americans are encouraged to believe that if anything good for the world comes out of the war in Ukraine, it will be that “the US is back,” not shooting but supporting, maybe midwifing a new birth of freedom. The indispensable nation again. What does it tell you that most of the world doesn’t see it that way? We like to say that the cause going forward is democracy against strongman politics, but India, the biggest democracy in the world, is also the world’s biggest buyer of Russian weapons, and has refused to condemn the Putin invasion of Ukraine. Neither has Israel, among the liveliest of democracies. Two thirds of the human race, some 5-billion people, live in countries that want no part of the sanctions against Russia: the people of Africa, Southeast Asia, as well as Latin America and China.

To discuss this international dynamic of non-involvement, host Chris Lydon speaks with Marc Weitzmann, Pico Iyer, María José Urzúa Valverde, and Tariq Ali. Each of these international voices provides a unique perspective on this ongoing war, distinctive from the narrative put forth by the American media.

Listen to the full episode here:

Additionally, check out these related resources here:

• The American media is failing us on Ukraine – Dan Froomkin in Responsible Statecraft, April 28th, 2022.

• Against World War III – David Bromwich in The Nation, April 21st, 2022. 

• The Reckoning Is Yet to Come – Marc Weitzmann in The Atlantic, April 11th, 2022. 

• Why Non-Western Countries Tend to See Russia’s War Very, Very Differently – QI Executive Vice President Trita Parsi, April 11th, 2022.