Letter to the Editor: An Answer for George?
George Bernard Shaw stated, "If history repeats itself, and the unexpected always happens, how incapable must Man be of learning from experience." Today the world is being tested as to the validity of that statement.
Reflecting back to the last century, it was the 1930s and Adolph Hitler rose to power using the leverage of touting the victimization of Germany following World War I. He started out small under the guise of repatriating ethnic Germans from within the borders of neighboring countries. Europe's passive response to these measures led the dictator to acquire whole countries. The capstone of his adventures was the invasion of Poland and the entry of treaty bound Britain and France into what became World War II.
Today it seems we have a mirror image of the late dictator in the name of Vladimir Putin. Like Adolph, he sees Russia as a victim – after the collapse of the Soviet Union he’s held in his mind that it was a tragedy to give up the satellite countries of the Soviet bloc. He too started out small with the excuse of repatriating ethnic Russians from within the borders of neighboring countries. After nibbling at Ukraine in the past years – the taking of Crimea and harassing its eastern provinces – Putin has elected a full invasion. Unlike Poland, Ukraine has no established treaties; hence, the triggering of a major war is not inevitable – for now.
There are other similarities: In times of crisis courageous leaders come to the forefront, as with Britain’s Winston Churchill steadfastness during the London blitz, we today have Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy standing pat during the impending siege and take over of his nation’s capital. Also (unfortunately), the axis powers of Germany, Italy, and Japan of the past can be compared to Russia, China, and Iran of today.
In answer to Mr. Shaw: With the world’s unified response to isolate Russia economically, and the activation of the NATO Response Force to Europe’s eastern flank, it just might be that, “Man [is capable] of learning from experience.” Time will tell.
Enough said.
Anthony C. Powers
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