A Wider War Has Already Started in Europe

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2025/01/europe-russia-ukraine-multifront-war/681295/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=the-atlantic&utm_content=edit-promo

Posted by theatlantic

5 comments

  1. Phillips Payson O’Brien: “For the past three years, Russia has used missiles and drones to locate and destroy vital infrastructure in Ukraine—power plants, dams, electrical-transmission lines. Everyone understands that these attacks are acts of war, no matter how steadfastly President Vladimir Putin describes them as part of a ‘special military operation.’ When Russia targets other European neighbors, though, the West resorts to its own euphemisms to avoid directly acknowledging what Putin is doing.

    “Last month, the undersea power cable Estlink 2, which connects Estonia with fellow European Union and NATO member Finland, was suddenly cut. The EU’s top foreign-policy official described the incident somewhat dryly and without explicitly blaming Russian agents: It was, she said, merely ‘part of a pattern of deliberate and coordinated actions to damage our digital and energy infrastructure.’ Obviously, cutting a power line is a less overt form of aggression than the full-scale invasion that Putin launched in Ukraine. The common thread, though, is that Russia is using force to undermine a recognized country’s independence and its ability to fight back …”

    “Still, in this and other cases across the continent, European officials seem terrified of admitting what is happening … The inability to describe acts of war as acts of war is part of a culture of distortion and denial regarding the subject of state-sponsored violence. Over generations, policy makers have created many subclasses of conflict: cold wars, police actions, hybrid wars, cyber wars. Different euphemisms serve different purposes. Putin prefers *special military operation* because he doesn’t want to publicly admit that he is waging a brutal war on Ukrainians. Many in Europe avoid describing Russia’s sabotage campaign outside Ukraine as war because they’d rather not have to do anything in response.

    “European officials would be better off honestly admitting the reality of what they are confronting.”

    Read more here: [https://theatln.tc/sWgquYS6](https://theatln.tc/sWgquYS6) 

  2. Tell it to the political leaders of Europe who seem asleep at the wheel. Defense spending is still embarrassingly sluggish among the major players, and worse yet, there has been no acknowledgement among the political or cultural elite that a further militarization of European society may be necessary for survival.

  3. The bells of Chamberlin vs Churchill ring like a state school bell at home time and no one is listening.

  4. ” The combination of Putin’s aggression and Trump’s indifference should be an opportunity for Europe to take charge of its own defense. The first vital step in this realization is to acknowledge what’s already happening: Call a war a war.”

    True. Call a war a war. But what, where & when? What is war? Arson? Pushing refugees over the border? Bringing down a plane? In what country? How much damage is to much? When will it be to much = where to draw a line. A red line. And when that red line has been crossed then what? Limited answer like attacking a base? Tit for tat? Article 4 or 5?

    We expect Russia to fail when it’s economy will collapse. But will that happen? I may suspect China will step in and kind of save Russia ( not to much, it is a nice vasal state).

    So what next? Forget the red line.

    I tell you. Just get ready. before. Sat, Feb 6, 2027

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