Over the past several months, the United States and its allies have exhibited their willingness to prolong the Ukrainian conflict for as long as possible, eagerly supplying vast quantities of ammo and a wide range of weaponry to Kiev.
At the same time, US and European government officials do not seem as eager to try and bring the conflict to a negotiated solution, despite styling themselves as the so-called champions of peace.
Speaking on Sputnik’s “Fault Lines” podcast, international relations and security analyst Mark Sleboda argued that, following the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Soviet Union, the West simply became “extremely accustomed” to its global hegemony and unwilling to make compromises “with another great power.”
Noting how the United States has been deploying its military around the world and targeting other countries with sanctions for decades, Sleboda also postulated that a “broader European exceptionalism” has emerged in the West to complement the American exceptionalism that Washington often used to justify its actions.
“You can call it Western exceptionalism, that they really believe that they are morally and systemically superior to the rest of the world, that the rest of the world would be better off under their rule, and that they simply have a duty to enforce that, not just a moral right, but a duty,” he warned.
The analyst suggested that this state of affairs is essentially a "lingering leftover from the geopolitical catastrophe that was the decades of US unipolar moment."
For more sharp analysis, check out the latest episode of Sputnik’s podcast Fault Lines.