#160 Through The Looking Glass

Global Policy Watch: What Ukraine Tells Us<br/><br/>Indian perspectives on global events <br/><br/>&#8212; RSJ<br/><br/>Among the rare joys of writing a weekly newsletter is the ability to pretend you&#8217;re an expert on everything under the sun. That way the last 2 years has been a gift that has kept on giving. Science of epidemiology, methods of lockdown, the efficacy of vaccines, how fiscal stimulus should be structured, what to do about China, the transitory nature of inflation or the long-term impact of working from home - there&#8217;s a wide swathe of subjects that I have claimed expertise on. The only thing missing was war. <br/><br/>This week God, Putin heard me. <br/><br/>And there was war.<br/><br/>Now we do talk about matsyanyaaya a lot around here. That is all international relations can be reduced to the maxim of &#8216;big fish eating small fish&#8217;. To many, it seems like a simplistic formulation. Surely it cannot be just about power, they say. What about things like global order, liberal values and democracy that we hear nations claim that govern their outlook? Didn&#8217;t we do just that during the cold war? Fought on principles and brought down an evil empire? I can sympathize with them. There&#8217;s so much talk about higher-order morals in international relations that you can easily be taken in by it. Well, my view is that most of that stuff is garbage. The naked truth about international relations is grotesque. It needs the garb of pious intentions. And this becomes clear as daylight when you have a war. As much as it is a humanitarian crisis that saddens you, war is also a moment when all pretenses fall away. And you see the truth.<br/><br/>So, what are the truths that emerge from the Russian invasion of Ukraine? The usual response to that question is about Putin, his ego and his frailties, his hegemonic ambitions and his desire for leaving behind a legacy that might appear dubious to us but important to him. Here&#8217;s a <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/202