Western leaders … [made] the case that Russia’s invasion … posed a threat not just to Europe but to the whole world. There was little evidence their message got through.

No shit. The people who have been threatened and worse aren’t going to listen to warnings made by the people who have consistently done the threatening and worse.

US vice-president Kamala Harris said “no nation is safe” in a world where “one country can violate the sovereignty and territorial integrity of another”.

Correct. Let me introduce you to this invention called a mirror.

French president Emmanuel Macron said the “neocolonial, imperialist” Russian invasion was not “only a European war”.

Mighty big of the French to start arguing against neocolonialism and imperialism. Unless he’s telling Russia how to do it right: “Oi, Putin, mate. Not like that. If you want to do some recreational neocolonialism and imperialism, it’s like this. It’s a bit rude of you to pick on a European nation; we all kind of agreed a while ago – you were too busy with socialism to notice at the time – that all European peripheries would be brought into the EU, and if that’s not enough you’ve got to find your own somewhere else.”

German chancellor Olaf Scholz said it would be everybody’s problem if “the law of the strongest prevailed in international relations”.

Indeed, Scholz. You’re self awareness is becoming of you. Now if Germany doesn’t mind giving Greece and Ireland their cash back, that would be very mature. We could call it praxis.

Yet their attempts to portray the war in universal terms met some familiar retorts.

Pray tell, are these familiar because they were said about Iraq, Palestine, Libya, Kosovo, Yemen, Korea, the ‘Falklands’? Or have I missed one?

[I]n a message that jarred with the stance of western attendees calling for resolve to fight a long war in Ukraine[.]

Heres me thinking that we started by arguing against the threat of continuing war, for the good of everyone.

Comfort Ero, president of the conflict prevention organisation Crisis Group, welcomed what she said was the “significant effort” by the west to respond to criticism that it was putting other countries through “a loyalty test” on Ukraine and failing to listen to their concerns.

Phew. Good job the west is responding to criticism. We wouldn’t want it to waste time by not putting the global south through a loyalty test or actually actioning any concerns.

… European and American officials needed to do better in countering what she called China’s “very clever” framing of itself as a part of the global south, where it promotes itself as a partner to help nations safeguard their sovereignty and boost development.

Ironic considering the article is literally about how everyone needs to follow the west, which is very concerned (concerned face) with Russia’s threat to everyone, not just Europe (by which they must mean Ukraine, because Russia has clearly not invaded the rest of Europe).

Amrita Narlikar said:

“If China were to present its vision as one of a peace dialogue between Russia and Ukraine, and emphasise the global economic costs of a long-drawn war, this would enjoy considerable support in large parts of the global south.

“The west needs to get its act together and build more inclusive and winning narratives,” she added.

I’m sure we were just told to be wary of nations reframing the themselves as peacekeeper. Maybe it’s okay if white Anglo-Europeans look like they’re keeping the peace but not the Chinese 🤷‍♂️. Not to mention that if China points out the global effects, it is likely to lengthen the war because they can then sit back with the Russians and enjoy the west’s self destruction.

In conclusion, you’re right. Unfortunately, reactionaries will read this, see the western calls for peace highlighted and go to sleep filled with the warmth of knowing that their glorious leaders are truly the saviours of humanity (completely ignoring what they’re doing with their hands while their forked tongues are flapping)§.

Noam Chomsky tells us to read the FT because that’s what the ruling class reads to find out what’s really happening and that class won’t lie to itself. Either Chomsky is very very wrong, the ruling class has lost the plot entirely, or the FT has chased a wheel of cheese down the hill and stood up bruised and battered at the end of it.

§ Apologies to any snakes or devils that may be reading.

Edit: clarified some sentences.