My Take | United States is responsible for Ukraine war

Every war has an immediate trigger, and an underlying cause, or causes. Most historians worth their salt would agree, though they may dispute the causes. Not diplomats, though.

They are there to advocate for their own side and often to accuse, and lay all the blame on the other side. Nicholas Burns, the US ambassador to China, told the World Peace Forum in Beijing this week that the Russian war in Ukraine was “unprovoked” and that it was “the greatest threat to the world order”.

Both his claims could be true if you only consider the immediate trigger of the war. It looks different, though, when you examine the underlying causes. With respect to the latter, Burns’ country bears direct responsibility both for creating the conditions for the conflict and continuing to pour the most petrol onto the flame to make sure its burning affects the entire world, including the threats of famine and runaway inflation.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo, among others, have said the war needs to end quickly; Washington and its Western allies are making sure it doesn’t.

In analysing the underlying causes of the war, I can do no better than quote John Mearsheimer, an influential political scientist at the University of Chicago.

“First, the United States is principally responsible for causing the Ukraine crisis,” he said in a lecture at the European University Institute last month.

“This is not to deny [Vladimir] Putin started the war and that he is responsible for Russia’s conduct on the battlefield.