War in Ukraine: Making Sense of a Senseless Conflict

by Medea Benjamin, Nicolas J. S. Davies, Katrina vanden Heuvel (Preface by)

Overview

Russia’s brutal February 2022 invasion of Ukraine has attracted widespread condemnation across the West. Government and media circles present the conflict as a simple dichotomy between an evil empire and an innocent victim. In this concise, accessible and highly informative primer, Medea Benjamin and Nicolas Davies insist the picture is more complicated.

Yes, Russia’s aggression was reckless and, ultimately, indefensible. But the West’s reneging on promises to halt eastward expansion of NATO in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union played a major part in prompting Putin to act. So did the U.S. involvement in the 2014 Ukraine coup and Ukraine's failure to implement the Minsk peace agreements. The result is a conflict that is increasingly difficult to resolve, one that could conceivably escalate into all-out war between the United States and Russia—the world’s two leading nuclear powers.

Skillfully bringing together the historical record and current analysis, War In Ukraine looks at the events leading up to the conflict, surveys the different parties involved, and weighs the risks of escalation and opportunities for peace. For anyone who wants to get beneath the heavily propagandized media coverage to an understanding of a war with consequences that could prove cataclysmic, reading this timely book will be an urgent necessity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781682193716
Publisher:	OR Books
Publication date:	11/15/2022
Pages:	198
Sales rank:	270,013
Product dimensions:	4.90(w) x 7.40(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Medea Benjamin is a co-founder of CODEPINK and the fair trade advocacy group Global Exchange. She is the author of Drone Warfare, Kingdom of the Unjust: Behind the U.S.–Saudi Connection and Inside Iran. In 2012, she was awarded the U.S. Peace Memorial Foundation’s Peace Prize; she is also recipient of the 2014 Gandhi Peace Award and the 2010 Martin Luther King, Jr. Peace Prize from the Fellowship of Reconciliation.

Nicolas J.S. Davies is the author of Blood On Our Hands: the American Invasion and Destruction of Iraq. He has written extensively for Huffington Post, Alternet, Consortium News, Common Dreams, Salon, The Progressive, and Foreign Policy In Focus.

Table of Contents

Maps 1

Preface Katrina vanden Heuvel 3

Introduction: Collision Course 11

1 How 2014 Set the Stage for War 23

2 The Success and Failure of the Minsk II Peace Plan 51

3 The Russian Invasion of Ukraine 69

4 NATO: Myth vs. Reality 97

5 Information Warfare 117

6 The Consequences of Western Sanctions on Russia 145

7 Flirting with Nuclear War 165

Conclusion: How on Earth Will This End? 177

Acknowledgments 183

Acronyms 187

About the Authors 189

Editorial Reviews

This careful, informed, judicious study is an invaluable guide to understanding the background, character, and likely consequences of Russia’s criminal invasion of Ukraine, and most crucially, how we can act to help bring this terrible tragedy to an end.
—Noam Chomsky

“This book is an important antidote to the war propaganda about Ukraine that so many in the West are caught up in.”
—Mairead McGuire, Northern Irish peace activist and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize

"Medea Benjamin and Nicolas Davies lay out the historical background and series of provocations by the US that led Russia to launch its war on Ukraine. These provocations do not excuse the Russian invasion, but they tragically make clear that this was a conflict that could have been avoided if our foreign policy had not become captive to militarists whose sole loyalty is to the arms industry."
—Chris Hedges, journalist and author

“Here, finally, is the book we've been awaiting. War in Ukraine is illuminating and essential for anyone seeking to penetrate the fog of myth and propaganda that distorts our understanding of this crisis.”
—Stephen Kinzer, author and journalist

“Given corporate media’s pro-war bias, a book like this, which provides important political and historical context for the current war and argues for negotiations instead of escalation, is of utmost importance.”
—Katie Halper, host of The Katie Halper Show and co-host of Useful Idiots

“Give this book to anyone seeking the knowledge and wisdom needed to help end the violence in Ukraine.”
—David Swanson, executive director of World Beyond War and campaign coordinator for Roots Action

“This concise primer gives what U.S. media consumers so rarely get—historical context with balance and compassion.”
—Norman Solomon, executive director of Institute for Public Accuracy

From the Publisher