Peace or War?
#118
My Dear Friend of Democracy,
Today, I'll write about Sarah Wagenknecht.
She is a prominent politician in Germany, where I live.
Wagenknecht was once a member of the left-wing party Die Linke. On 8 January 2024, she founded a new party, the left-wing populist, socially conservative and Eurosceptic German party The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (German: Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht).
Wagenknecht's party is quite successful off the cuff. Its poll ratings are currently just under 10 per cent.
Part of the party's success is based on the demand to end arms deliveries to Ukraine. Wagenknecht says the government would "further fuel" the war with "billions in tax revenue." Instead, the focus should be on diplomacy. This is how peace can come to Ukraine, claims Wagenknecht.
Here is what I think.
Sarah Wagenknecht is right in a way. If all states stopped supporting Ukraine, the war there would probably soon end.
And with it, democracy.
As we know, there are not just two warring parties fighting each other in Ukraine. Rather, one country has invaded the other. The invaded country is defending itself against this invasion with everything it has and everything it receives from abroad.
You could also put it that way: If Russia stops fighting, there will be peace. If Ukraine stops fighting, Ukraine will no longer exist.
What does this mean for Wagenknecht's dogma of relying primarily on diplomatic efforts? Is diplomacy better than supplying weapons?
The strategic reasoning for finding an answer is not very complex: Putin will be more open to diplomatic negotiations the further away his war aims become. This will happen precisely when we continue to support Ukraine militarily (and even better), not when we stop the support, as Wagenknecht demands.
The weapons are, therefore, necessary to achieve peace under the condition of a free, democratic Ukraine.
I suspect Sarah Wagenknecht knows that. She is considered clever. But she still tells a different story. Because she also knows that there are enough people who are not prepared to think outside their box on this issue.
And their box is: Those who supply weapons cannot help create peace.
This is the thinking of the approximately 10 per cent of Germans who want to vote for the "Sarah Wagenknecht Alliance,” or BSW for short, in the upcoming elections.
I guess people like things to be simple. The Wagenknecht party has turned this into a political business model.
These voters probably don't even consider that they couldn't do this if most people had thought similarly at another time. Then Nazi Germany would not have lost the Second World War, and we probably wouldn't be living in a democracy today.
Therefore: You'd better #StandwithUkraine 🇺🇦
See you in Europe,
Johannes
As a former ideological pacifist it still sometimes hurts to admit this, but you are right with everything you say.