Putin tried to break the international order -- it will hold him accountable

[Uncle Joe]

Russian President Vladimir Putin has a history of manipulating international law and institutions to advance his imperial ambitions and break the post-World War II order. After the failures to stop him in Georgia and Crimea, Putin has underestimated their power and resilience. His brazen breach of the most fundamental rule prohibiting aggressive war has backfired. Today, the post-WWII international order is stronger than ever, and international law will hold Putin to account.

Law has been but a toy for Putin since he studied it in St. Petersburg during the Soviet era. In 2008, he sent Russian troops to Georgia, claiming the legal right of self-defense in response to non-existent Georgian aggression. He justified his 2014 annexation of Crimea on a twisted version of the international law rule self-determination — the same rule that gave Kosovo, East Timor and South Sudan their independence. His current conquest similarly distorts the law yet again. He recognized the separatist Ukrainian regions of Luhansk and Donetsk as independent nations and entered into “treaties” with their self-appointed leaders, to manufacture an “invitation” for Russian troops to enter Ukraine. He was well on his way to breaking the international system.

Invading Ukraine, however, is proving to be the step-too-far that the international community needed to reboot the international order and hold Putin to account. Precisely because of the flagrancy of Putin’s violation, the world has emerged united behind the United Nations Charter. Russia is surrounded. The sanctions package is the broadest, most robust in history, cutting Russia off from the international banking system, breaking the ruble, prohibiting the import of crucial technologies, freezing the assets of Putin and his allies, blocking Russian use of European Union (EU) airspace, and closing it off from the Bosporus.

These sanctions are possible because of Putin’s disregard for international law. Politically, the gravity of his breach fundamentally transformed countries, such as Germany, that last month shunned foreign policy activism but this week dispatched weapons to Kyiv. Legally, Putin’s violation allows countries to take countermeasures against Russia that otherwise would be illegal — from denying Russia use of their airspace to cutting it off from the SWIFT financial clearing system.

(snip)

https://thehill.com/opinion/international/596626-putin-tried-to-break-the-international-order-it-will-hold-him

[lagomorph777]

1. I hope Russia is crushed in time to save Ukraine.

[Uncle Joe]

2. I'm hoping for Russia to be enlightened in time to save Ukraine and Russia.

[lagomorph777]

3. That would be nice, but far less likely.

I think a large portion of the population are as far down the Putin rabbit hole as are the Republicans in this country. It will take a really massive shock to shake them out of it, if it's possible at all.

[Uncle Joe]

5. I believe the historic sanctions combined with the near and growing global unanimity

will be a major culture shock.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

4. Sometimes despots failing spectacularly are enlightening to their populace. Happened in Germany

... post war.

[Uncle Joe]

6. That's true, however I'm one that believes history

doesn't necessarily repeat itself so much but it can rhyme.