Ep 418 - Is Ukraine vs. Russia a Proxy World War?

Guest: Jeffrey Simpson

By Stuart McNish

Is the Ukraine-Russia war a proxy World War? Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says, “It is!” He contends NATO is “using Ukraine as a battering ram against the Russian state.” He says, “Russia is the target of one of the most ruthless proxy wars in modern history.”

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, in a Washington Post article, confirmed that America’s goal is to “‘weaken’ Russia,” saying that “the only way to deal with a rogue regime is to reduce its capacity for harm.”

1. Anthony Pfaff, a Senior Fellow of the Atlantic Council, wrote, “With Russia already believing the war is effectively a battle against the West and NATO, there is the possibility that a potential Russian defeat could motivate Putin to expand the conflict by attacking NATO countries.”

More than six months into the conflict, Russian casualties continue to mount and the impact of the war is being felt in countries around the world. Cut off from normal trade, Russia has turned to another pariah state – North Korea – for weapons. This, in addition to Iranian drone purchases, shows sanctions are hurting Moscow. As a member of the Security Council at the UN, will the purchase of weapons from North Korea jeopardize Russia’s status? Will the Russian invasion of Ukraine escalate from a proxy war to a world war, or is it a global conflict already?

We invited Jeffrey Simpson to join us for a Conversation That Matters about the expanding risks associated with Putin’s determination to reclaim the Soviet Empire.