They say war always has the last word, but in truth, words do. President Zelensky’s peace plan is an excellent illustration of this point. It is also a threat to Moscow’s hybrid-warfare based strategies, which stretch far beyond Russia’s borders. So, why now is it so important to be practical about the future of Ukraine, when so many western nations dragged their feet on commitments to Ukraine’s defence?
Russian-led hybrid warfare campaigns have set new precedents in impact on target. Donald Trump’s cheating, which gained him the US presidential election, is direct evidence of this. Also, every European nation is struggling with the impact of Russian-led hybrid warfare operations, which are becoming more and more brazen.
Russia upped the ante to get their far-right styled surrogates into political seats of power in Europe and the United States. Their hybrid warfare campaigns are not based on emotion or vengeance. They are based on relatively accurate intelligence and multi-channel hybrid warfare workflows, running through a pre-defined operations process.
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Cohesive orchestration allows scaled changes in ongoing hybrid warfare operations to occur, which provides an immense advantage. Democracies on the back-foot from digital subversion can relate to this in dealing with political and societal interference. Incorporate flexible orchestration into a hybrid warfare campaign. Then, espionage, tactical support, and transnational operations can drive its success. That has become a Russian model of hybrid warfare operations.
Ukraine Leads The Way
This is where Ukrainian leadership, practicality, and focus come into play. Ukraine, in enduring the brunt of Russian meddling and brutality, has developed a practical perspective on what actually works, and what does not. Their harsh experience points to many things, which include the transnational threat we all face from Russia and her public/private partners.
President Zelensky’s peace plan is a great example of growing Ukrainian practicality. The clever focus on Ukrainian sovereignty and immediate NATO membership made little sense to me when I first read it. It turns out Ukraine’s rational sense of politics saw Russian hybrid warfare gains secure a pro-Russia government in the United States under Donald Trump.
They also saw Russia’s ambitions of conquest visiting every European capital. Russia has been doing this from the shadows for some time. They are now applying hybrid warfare to turn NATO into sterile talking shop, like they have done at the UN. I cannot stress how Russia’s hubris has become the driver for the most important geo-political shift in Europe since World War 2.
Ukraine’s working relationship with the EU will survive the Hungarian government’s attempts to subvert it on behalf of Russia. As fear and resentment in EU governments turn to knowledge and power, a new era will be born. In this context, hybrid warfare supporting Russian battlefield barbarism against Ukrainian civilians will become a catalyst for Ukraine’s EU ascension.
Mutual Interest Drives NATO Collaboration
This geo-political shift into the European Union will be Ukraine’s more substantial move, which is not focused on in the peace plan. The peace plan’s context integrates the inherent threats to all EU nations from Russia and her public/private partners. The EU and the UK will have to face facts, such as Donald Trump’s version of the USA as an emerging threat, along with Russia as an existing one.
Rebalancing NATO will definitely need to happen as Putin’s number one sock puppet prepares to grab President Biden’s seat in the White House. Dissembling NATO will be a key aim for this Russian alliance, offering authoritarianism as an alternative. It’s funny how a former puppet state of Russia saw all of this coming; and yet, we still hoped for an old solution to work in a new context.
What Ukraine has done is present a 3rd option that will make the EU a leading democratic block of nations in a world rife with authoritarianism. They have also offered a workable way to rebalance NATO, which will secure Ukraine and the alliance for some time to come. Donald Trump, opposing Ukrainian NATO membership for 20 years under any Ukrainian aid-deal from the United States, is corroborating evidence of the peace plan’s effectiveness.
European Union Stand With Ukraine
With a better understanding of Ukraine’s wizardly policy making, I have to agree it’s a workable peace plan. The structure is very practical, which will stimulate debate and disclosure from parties objecting to it. It’s hard not to agree with such a robust plan unless you have an ulterior motive regarding it.
As European Union citizens, Ukrainians can merge their culture and knowhow into our melting pot of democracies. Together, we can, and will, work to protect our future, which includes balanced integration of private commerce with public interest. This will make us an enduring threat to authoritarian state actors, their backers, and their supporters. As a freedom loving Irish and European Union citizen, this direction sounds like a plan to me.
About the Author
John is a versatile author known for his gripping fiction narratives in the thriller, action, and suspense genres. With a background as a journalist since 2016, and expertise in cloud technologies as an engineer; John brings a unique blend of storytelling prowess and technical acumen to his work.
