A better peacekeeping force in Ukraine
Nations outside of NATO should assume the responsibility.
From The Economist:
American officials are suggesting a different sort of peacekeeping force to a NATO presence, including non-European countries such as Brazil or China, that would sit along an eventual ceasefire line as a buffer.
Anglo hawks seem decidedly unhappy at the prospect of a non-European force keeping the peace in Ukraine. The Economist presents this as evidence that “Trump is junking the transatlantic alliance”; Noah Smith, meanwhile, sees this as the tragic end of the US “trying to wield influence in Eurasia”. They are both correct, but that is beside the point — which is presumably to keep the peace in Ukraine.
The Russian Federation has made it clear that it will not accept a peace plan that introduces NATO troops as peacekeepers in the region. And their anxiety about this is utterly predictable; limiting NATO’s presence in Ukraine is why they launched this war in the first place. Diplomats can spend the next several years futiley wrangling over this point in negotiations as more Ukrainians and Russians die, or they can simply finesse the objection by proposing non-European peacekeepers instead.
That approach has multiple advantages. First and foremost, it undercuts the standard Russian objection to peacekeepers. Second, it enhances the legitimacy of the peace to place relatively neutral parties in charge of keeping it. Third, it gives nations like China, which has mostly constrained its involvement in the conflict to empty commentary and both-sides condemnation, direct skin in the game in keeping the peace. And fourth, it puts both Ukraine and Russia at risk of making new enemies if they attempt to break the peace.
Ideally, the United Nations would assume its appropriate role in resolving this conflict by assuming responsibility for peacekeeping. If the UN insists on maintaining its usual irrelevance to global affairs, however, China and Brazil are the two most logical alternatives.
This solution will undoubtedly be met with fierce resistance by European and American hawks, but that resistance is telling. Opposition to a truly international peacekeeping force makes little sense if what you are interested in is peace in Ukraine. It makes perfect sense, however, if what you are really interested in is expanding the power and territory of NATO.
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