Former German diplomat Wolfgang Ischinger says Western leaders should be making more threats and be willing to follow them through.

Former German diplomat Wolfgang Ischinger says Western leaders should be making more threats and be willing to follow them through.

The West should spend less time fretting about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s red lines and set its own, says veteran German diplomat Wolfgang Ischinger.

“Russia keeps saying, if you do this, if you cross this or that red line, we might escalate,” said the 78-year-old onetime chairman of the Munich Security Conference. “Why don’t we turn this thing around and say to them: ‘We have lines and if you bomb one more civilian building, then you shouldn’t be surprised if, say, we deliver Taurus cruise missiles or America allows Ukraine to strike military targets inside Russia’?”

That way the onus will be on Moscow to decide whether to cross the red lines — or face the consequences.

  • PugJesus@lemmy.worldEnglish
    181·
    2 months ago

    It’s insane. Shows how much of international politics isn’t “Which country benefits from what”, but “What levers of decisionmaking are manipulated by whom”. A little lobbying and foreign PR goes a long way.

      • WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.worldEnglish
        101·
        2 months ago

        Laws are meaningless if criminals are not held accountable. It doesn’t matter that anyone who supports Israel supports fascism — 30% of US voters support fascism. The fact is that as long as the US (and 5 eyes) supports and arms Netanyahu, the genocide will continue; everything they declare to the contrary is nothing more than a virtue signal.

        The ICJ and all opposition is meaningless unless they are willing to take collective economic and military action again Israel and its supporters. They will not.

    • cygnus@lemmy.caEnglish
      37·
      2 months ago

      What levers of decisionmaking are manipulated by whom

      I hope you aren’t saying what I think you’re saying here.

      In any case, the main reason for western support of Israel is the same as the reason for western support of Turkey. Both have obnoxious leadership but both are in key geographic locations, and the value of having them on-side against their neighbours is greater than the value in cutting them loose.

      • PugJesus@lemmy.worldEnglish
        6·
        2 months ago

        I hope you aren’t saying what I think you’re saying here.

        That Israel has established a death grip on American politics since the 1980s?

        In any case, the main reason for western support of Israel is the same as the reason for western support of Turkey. Both have obnoxious leadership but both are in key geographic locations, and the value of having them on-side against their neighbours is greater than the value in cutting them loose.

        Gonna press X to doubt. Turkiye controls one of the most vital straits in the world. Israel primarily specializes in antagonizing its neighbors, many of whom are also our close allies, damaging our international reputation, pouring money in to corrupt our domestic political processes (not that we really need help with that, but the corruption becomes more pro-Israel), while murdering American citizens and selling American secrets to our enemies.

      • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
        61·
        2 months ago

        And millions in AIPAC money. The Jews control the world conspiracy theory is of course false, but you’d be extremely naive if you think the decades and dollars Usrael spent creating a government and public that’s friendly to its interests isn’t a big part of the US government’s current attitude.

        • cygnus@lemmy.caEnglish
          13·
          2 months ago

          Americans stop making everything about the US challenge (impossible)

          You know most other western countries support Israel too, right?