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COMMENTARY by Abdoul Mahdieu Savage | 06 December 2022 |

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When a nation was at war, ruthless leaders were more likely to force other nations to accept their demands. Shameless dictators pursued with unrelenting vigour the dictum “might is right” during this period. Back then, international law and human rights were hardly anything to write home about. Currently, the global order is based on rules. The Western nations have not crafted this order alone, as President Vladimir Putin often claims. In their roles as members of the Security Council, as well as members of the international community, Russia and China have played a very significant role in shaping the current international order. The world order is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. While there is definitely room for improvement, it is far superior to the law of the jungle.

Many people and economies around the world are already suffering because of the war in Ukraine. Despite this, President Vladimir Putin continues to blame western nations for supporting the people of Ukraine, refusing to accept a negotiated settlement without preconditions.

So, here are the glaring contradictions that make the Russian position unsustainable. The contradictions arise when Putin insists on annexing Ukraine’s territory, which undermines the fundamental provisions of the UN Charter, to which Russia has been a founding father (albeit under the Soviet Union). As a permanent member of the Security Council, Russia may exercise a veto. This entitlement is granted by the UN Charter now being shredded in this war.

Casting the invasion of Ukraine as a defence of ‘Christianity’ undermines the foundational document of the United Nations as well. One nation condemns the religious credentials of another nation as being the Anti-Christ, which violates Article 55 (3) of the Charter which calls for “universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion”. No nation should lecture another nation about religion, plain and simple.

A question that needs to be answered is: would Russia accept the ‘law’ of invasion and annexation of a neighbouring state’s territory to be regarded as a universal (global) policy? Certainly not! A nation must embrace the geographical reality (accident, some might say) of sharing a border with a neighbouring country. There is probably some unfinished business between every state and its neighbour. Because of the UN Charter, we have a concrete framework for resolving some of these issues outside the whimsical impulses of some dictators. It has become less and less likely that we will be subject to unrelenting smash-and-grab raids by our neighbours in the future.

Russians are not unaware that the international order is based on the ideas of great minds. The philosophical ideas of Immanuel Kant provided much of the intellectual background for the United Nations and other international legal institutions today.

The irony of Kant’s birth and burial in Russia is not lost on many observers. He was born in Königsberg, in the German state of Prussia, a city now renamed Kalinigrad in the Russian Federation.

Insisting that any diplomatic discussion begins with ‘realities’ on the ground is absurd. Article 2 (4) of the UN Charter would be shredded, resulting in a free-for-all dash for territories. Article 2 (4) of the UN Charter stipulates that: “All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purpose of the

The founding nations of the United Nations, including Russia, understand this provision as being sacrosanct and unambiguous. Ukraine’s reality has not changed. However, new deviations from the universally accepted reality threaten the sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations set forth in the United Nations Charter.

It is a bold act of false belief to reject diplomatic efforts to end the war. The Russian President’s preconditions undermine the Charter of the United Nations. Meanwhile, the Ukraine war is battering the global economy. In some countries, especially in Africa, starvation is looming large.

According to Kant, the most pressing problem for humanity is the establishment of a universal civil society governed by the rights of the people. He expresses this view in his essay titled “Idea for a universal history with a cosmopolitan intent” published in Konigsberg in Prussia on 30 September 1784.