What’s Up With Ukraine?: A history teacher Q&A

In wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, two history teachers at East were asked about their takes on the conflict.

Emily Fossoh

How do you think that Biden is handling the situation with Ukraine right now?

“I think he’s doing the best he can right now. I think he’s showing the U.S. is strong. But also, I think [sanctions] is the first step in something like this. So creating the economic sanctions, do I think it’s going to work completely? Maybe not. But, it’s working. I read something where a Ukrainian actually tried to use a credit card that was Russian-backed, and it didn’t work, within literally an hour after he made the statement that these sanctions were going to be put in place. But, they’re happening quickly and they’re being put in place, I think this is the first direction that the west is potentially taking. Is this going to stop Putin? That’s a big question mark. I don’t think it will if this is the direction he’s already taken.”

Do you think that the U.S. will continue to do more things in relation to this, go beyond the sanctions?

“It depends on what president Putin does. If Putin does, for instance, invade or has any form of military action on a NATO country, then I do think, based on what NATO has addressed, then the possibility of being on the ground and U.S. military involvement could happen.”

Do you think that the response taken by the U.S. is in the best interest of not only the U.S. but also Ukraine?

“I think the Ukrainians obviously might want more, because they’re doing this on their own for the most part. So, I think if they could have military help, they obviously would accept it. So that’s a big question. That’s maybe where you’re going to get the political division where some believe that it needs to go further, because if this happens then what else could happen? It might get to that point if the fighting continues, in a week maybe NATO will change their mind. Maybe the U.S. will change their mind. But [Biden] has been very adamant that unless NATO is harmed, they’re not going to be sending troops. Now, they’ve already provided weaponry and financial help so maybe that technology is going to be helpful.”

Will this become a bigger conflict than it already is?

“I think it is another test for this modern topic of democracy and western values. So this is a test of these ideas of the west to, again, regimes and who will win that battle. Could this roll into something bigger? There is that possibility. If Ukraine is successful, could Putin go [into] the Baltic states? Because, again, he’s using the idea of Russians, separatists movements. Now he could pivot and turn to the threat of what NATO is and continue that direction. And then, the kind of unique character is China. So what would that partnership be, if it continues to roll that way? The violent component has been less than 48 hours, so it’s really overwhelming for people in Europe to see this. But it is a possibility.”

Stephen Laird

How do you think that Biden is handling the situation with Ukraine right now?

“I don’t think there is a right way to handle the situation, I think it’s kind of a catch-22. There’s downsides either way. So I think the best way is to do the sanctions route, that is being handled right. The decisions they made this week are kind of the right path. That being said, I think both the decisions Biden and Trump made towards Putin, even going back to President Obama, by maybe not being as stern as they could have been with him — including pulling back sanctions when he took Crimea things like that — I don’t think they handled that well.

While the actions of past U.S. presidents dating back to the invasion of Crimea may have helped shape the Putin we see today, it really can’t be argued Biden’s counterintelligence operation hasn’t been a success. His unprecedented decision to essentially bare all with U.S. intel on Russia to the world has seemingly galvanized the support of the world in opposition to Putin and in support of Ukraine. The united response we’re seeing on the world stage hasn’t really been seen in the 21st century like this and it’s in large part due to the intelligence that undercut Putin’s massive propaganda machine that was looking to justify the war and sow dissent.

This wasn’t an easy decision either since U.S. Intel has been spotty at best during some points in the past 2 decades, just look at Iraq and Afghanistan for instance. It was a giant gamble to put it out there, and he did take heat for what some called saber-rattling, but in the end, the gamble paid off and Biden was right. Regardless of how people feel about his policies and actions in other areas as president, people really have to give him credit for this one. Without that move, we would probably be looking at a divided response globally and yet another significant blow to democracy.”

Do you think that the response taken by the U.S. is in the best interest of not only the U.S. but also Ukraine?

“In the sense of what we’re doing with sanctions and everything, and trying to keep Russia from taking everything in Ukraine, I think it is. I think Ukraine would prefer if we would be able to be more stern and maybe put troops in there, maybe give more weapons, even harsher sanctions. They wanted to remove Russia from SWIFT, but we kind of need Europe’s role to play into that, so that would make it more difficult. I do think it does benefit us, Europe and Ukraine to not have Russia control Ukraine, because Ukraine has a democratically-elective government, Ukraine has sovereignty and Russia is trying to take that. So I do think it is in our best interest to push back on that, I also think that it’s in ur best interest to not get involved militarily with troops and everything like that. Not only because we don’t have a treaty with Ukraine. And also if we send troops and get into war with Russia, that could be a huge deal. That might not be the best thing for Ukraine, because they may fall, Russia might win this invasion, and they might install a pro-Russian government — which undermines their democracy, sovereignty, which isn’t the best thing for them.”