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But whatever happens, it should be seen, because the final result of this conflict could change the way the international sphere works almost as dramatically as the aftermath of the Korean War, which set in stone the divisions and antagonism of the first Cold War.
If this really is the onset of a second Cold War, a new global contest of power blocs that threatens to divide our world all over again, we better make sure we don’t make the same mistakes as the last one, millions or even billions of people allowing themselves to be spoken for, boxed up and fenced away from each other, the victor of the first Cold War was power, the victor of the second should be truth.
And for Ukrainians, the aftermath of this conflict will be key, when the bombs stop falling the issues that have been set aside will be reopened, how to address the remainders of the Volunteer Battalions, those which are still very much politicised and hold a dubious level of loyalty to the state, how to form a healthy sense of nationalism, and differentiate this from the normalisation of toxic nationalism, rooted in the whitewashing figures like Stepan Bandera, how to reconcile the divisions resurfaced since 2013, where Maidan and Anti Maidan activists found themselves on opposite sides of the barricades, Ukrainians have gone through many intense tests to achieve recognition and cohesion, and it may be that the greatest of these tests is yet to come, the path to peace can sometimes be a greater challenge than surviving in wartime.
I hope the Ukrainians survive and thrive throughout these tests, and that they maintain the recognition they deserve, it is Ukraine, the fact that there are separatists and those who would rather be Russian in these disputed lands does not change the fact that the Ukrainian people, culture and language exist, Ukraine is not “Little Russia” or “New Russia”, nor should it be.
That doesn’t mean we should turn a blind eye to the issues plaguing this country, the Ukrainians may have set their problems aside in the name of the war effort, but it’s not our job to do the same thing, especially if Ukraine wants to further integrate with the west, becoming part of structures like the EU and NATO, we have to recognise these problems as the future roadblocks they are, to bury our heads in the sand and pretend they don’t exist will only make things harder when push comes to shove.
And for Russia’s people, we can only hope that they too can survive the upcoming tests to their nation, that they come to disavow the war being perpetuated in their name and form a new blueprint for their nation, with a nationalism based on celebrating the great culture they hold dear, rather than attempts to reform the empires and power blocs of old.
Russia should be an influential and valued country, one which can act as a counterweight to other powers and help prevent a new monopolisation over the world, but this can’t be based on purely power, there has to be some real substance to things beyond vague appeals to a nationalism that relies on subjugating others, and the end goal of this counterweight can’t take the form of a bipolar world like the past century, bipolarity isn’t a solid foundation for a new world order, it’s a mental illness.
The Eastern European family is a dysfunctional one for certain, badly in need of some serious therapy, the wounds can be mended, not just by time but by people, well meaning people. These changes are yet to come, but history moves fast these days, we’ll be following it, and hopefully you will too.
But that’s for the future, for now we just want to say thank you for sticking with this series, thank you for giving us your support, and thank you for reading MEGA.