To view the Russian leader as a gift may seem perverse. Yet, history teaches that growth, understanding and, dare I say, enlightenment typically depend on trauma, crisis and catastrophe. Putin has given us a healthy dose of all three and therein an opportunity to flourish. The Russian invasion of Ukraine follows a string of such “teachable moments” including the financial meltdown of 2009, the social upheavals of the #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements, COVID-19, and of course the granddaddy of reflective inflection points, global climate change.
Each of these “events” should be seen as signals that something is dreadfully wrong and thus occasions to wake up and examine hardened habits of thought and action. Sadly, the gift that Putin is offering is being treated much like the other above-mentioned gifts in our refusal to awaken from our slumbering ways.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has rattled political leaders and the foreign policy establishment. Given the devastating nature and seismic implications of Putin’s actions, one would have expected greater imagination from our politicians and pundits. While the Biden administration receives credit for the coalition it has mustered, its hackneyed framing of “autocracy versus democracy” tarnishes the luster. Biden is reflecting the foreign policy establishment’s adherence to the simplistic good versus bad, friend versus foe dualistic mentality that cleaves originality from any solution. Suggestions that the U.S. may have provided a model for Putin’s aggression through our past military forays are treated with ridicule and the charge of heresy.
