We’ve all seen this line used time and again to justify continuation of the proxy war. What does actually say though, if the west can only negotiate with countries it can trust that basically means the west is only able to have internal dialogue while using the threat of force with everyone else.

This argument is premised on the west being able to dominate and subjugate the rest of the world, and it’s a direct extension of the western colonial mindset.

However, this strategy falls apart when the west is faced with peer competitors such as Russia or China. The west isn’t able to dominate these countries, and it has lost the political expertise to negotiate with them.

Actual politics aren’t built on trust. Politics are about understanding your own interests and concerns as well as those of the other party. Real diplomats spend the time to understand how the other side thinks, what their interests are, what their red lines are and then make deals that are acceptable to both parties. Wars are costly, and it’s always possible to find a solution that doesn’t involve a war.

Yet, the west refuses to do diplomacy, it refuses to respect the basic interests of countries outside the west, and this creates a scenario where war is the only language that the west understands.

After three decades of trying to find a way to work with the west constructively, Russia has now realized that kinetic force is the only language NATO will understand.