Massive nonviolent resistance paralyzes agreesor or tiyrant.

Freedom Is Not Free: Canada and Nonviolent Resistance

“What’s our life and freedom worth
When a tyrant seeks our earth,
Aiming to subdue our land with greedy hands?
But we’ll stand against his might
Canada won’t yield this fight
And we’ll shout across our free and sovereign land:
Go home, Yankee! Yankee go home!
Keep your deals and go back home.”

Yankee, Go Home” is just one of several Canadian anti-Trump songs circulating among Canadians.  Trump’s threats against Canada –  25% across-the-board tariffs, repeated demands to make Canada the 51st state, and disrespectful references to our prime minister as “Governor Trudeau” – prompted this patriotic outpouring.

Although it is unlikely – indeed unthinkable – that Trump will invade Canada, we live in an increasingly unstable world. We can minimize the risk of external intervention to the extent we remain a united country and one with many organizations skilled in the practice of nonviolent resistance. We cannot match the United States in military power. But we can learn to paralyze military might through nonviolent resistance. In addition, familiarity with these techniques empowers citizens to preserve a vibrant democracy. Civil resistance is equally efficacious in defeating would-be tyrants. In the turbulent times to come, we should be prepared.

We Canadians are learning that freedom is not free, when you live next to a superpower that can turn on you in a moment. US proclamations of support for universal human rights, national sovereignty, and a rules-based international order can vanish with a change of regime. These ideals, though admittedly tarnished by the historical actions of the United States, have now been replaced by the predatory, amoral dictum of might makes right.

Yet we are not defenceless. Nonviolent resistance can work as a spontaneous response, though it is more effective with prior training and with a culture of civilian-based unarmed resistance. This culture does not exist in Canada (as it does in India, for example). We have been distracted from the efficacy of this strategy by the dominant narrative that national security depends on military strength alone. The emergency we now face, in middle-power Canada, reminds us how important it is that this notion of security be reframed.

Why is Canada a target?

Canadians from coast to coast to coast have reacted with anger and defiance to Trump’s bullying behaviour. All of Trump’s charges against Canada are baseless:

  • Trade deficit? Trump has claimed a trade deficit with Canada of US$200 -$250 billion, but according to US statistics, the deficit was US$55 billion in 2024. If you factor in trade in services, the deficit falls to US$45 billion. If you exclude energy exports from Canada, which are sold at a discount from international prices, the US has a healthy trade surplus with Canada.
  • A conduit for drugs and undocumented migrants to the US? Trump wants to penalize Canada with exorbitant tariffs for permitting an “invasion” from the North, but US government studies show that infinitesimal proportions of total migrants and fentanyl reach the US across the northern border.
  • US banks cannot operate in Canada? Many US banks operate in Canada, constituting about half of all foreign banking assets.

Why the lies and threats? The key is politics, not economics. Trump mobilizes his followers with the rhetoric of making America great again. The narrative is that the US has been victimized by both external and internal enemies. The role of the leader is to defeat these enemies and affirm his, and his country’s, greatness. Canada is now one of these purported external enemies, along with Mexico, China, and even NATO. Thus, Canada must be prevented from (purportedly) victimizing the American people. Moreover, another way to make American great again is to absorb or at least dominate other countries. Canada is a tempting target for domination with its bounty of natural resources, fresh water, and “nice” (pliable?) people.

Canada is not the only foreign territory under threat from Trump. The list now includes Greenland, the Panama-canal zone, and Gaza. Countries with small and medium populations must look to their own defence, as international norms decay.

A major weapon of the weak but resolute is nonviolent resistance.

What is Nonviolent Resistance?

Nonviolent resistance is not only a more effective defence than military force, but also less devastating in terms of lives lost and property destroyed. Indeed, the songs I’ve mentioned are actually one dimension of nonviolent resistance. They warn a potential aggressor that there will be no easy victory, while fostering a unity of purpose in the targeted national population.

To respond to an actual or threatened invasion with military force would be foolhardy. Canada would experience widespread casualties and the destruction of our largest cities. An armed insurrection would be more effective, in light of Canada’s vast territory and numerous mountains and forested areas. But the recourse to deadly force would lead not only to widespread casualties, but also to making enemies of US soldiers who, in the main, would initially sympathize with their friendly neighbours. The goal is to win over the occupying force, not drive it, through fear, to retaliation and hatred.

The answer to the conundrum of how to defeat aggression with the least damage is nonviolent resistance. This strategic concept emerged in the 1980s and 1990s at the height of the Cold War. An early proponent was the American Gene Sharp, supported by the Albert Einstein Institution. Sharp is often referred to as the “Clausewitz of non-violent warfare.” Recent major contributors on civilian resistance –Srdja Popovic, Erica Chenoworth  and Michael Beer – follow in Sharp’s footsteps.

Nonviolent resistance involves using a country’s population and its institutions to deter an invasion, and if that fails, to defeat and drive out the invaders. A determined people deter an aggressor by signally that the targeted country is united in opposition to a take-over. The government and people need to appear fully committed to defending themselves. They will do so by making their society “unrulable” by the would-be aggressor.

The invader cannot consolidate its political control if the subject people and the institutions refuse to comply with its rule. The tactics involve, in the first instance, total noncooperation with the occupying force, together with open defiance. That means that governments at all levels in the invaded nation would continue to supply only the basic services that a modern society requires for its survival: clean water, electricity, sanitation, policing, fire control, etc. Governments would resign, and civil servants would find ways to subvert every order issued by the invader. Crowds would fill the squares in silent or derisory defiance of orders. No violent response must be the norm: it should be apparent to all – the occupiers, the dictator’s audience back home, less committed Canadians, and foreign observers – who are the purveyors of violence against nonviolent people, and who simply want to live peacefully in their own homeland.

Throughout the occupation, citizens and organizations focus on subverting the loyalty and morale of the occupying troops and functionaries and rallying international support against the invader. In Canada’s case, the long history of friendship with Americans will mean that the morale of the occupiers is low. The aim is to encourage defections and desertions by talking face-to-face with soldiers and functionaries. If these tactics are effective, the support base of the external dictator begins to erode, both within the armed forces and among the Americans at home. This erosion of support may lead to the overthrow of the leader, or at least to his willingness to concoct some compromise to cover a retreat.

Attracting international support to Canada’s cause should not be a challenge. Trump alienated most of humankind and foreign governments during his first month in office.

Nonviolent resistance is just refined common sense. For a middle power like Canada, national security depends as much on our unity, our determination, and our understanding of the basic principles of nonviolent defence as on military power.

Canada is an ideal candidate for this strategy vis-à-vis the United States. We cannot match the US in firepower or economic strength.  However, Canada shares with America a language, a history of common struggles, a myriad of cross-border personal relationships, and basic democratic values (at least with the majority). These factors give Canada considerable leverage. Although it is unlikely that Trump will invade Canada, a united country capable of nonviolent resistance decreases the risk. In any event, these tactics have a relevance beyond deterring invasion: they empower the people to preserve a strong democracy.

Cases of Nonviolent Resistance

Civilian defence is not merely a theory. Not only is there a long history of improvised civilian resistance to invasions, but also countries such as Sweden, Switzerland, Finland and Lithuania have institutionalized civilian defence at various times.

Sharp identifies 16 examples in his 1990 book on civilian-based defense. These cases involve anti-colonial struggles (4), revolts against Communist rule (4), struggle against domination by a powerful neighbour (2) – including the brave Danish resistance to occupation during World War II, and resistance to internal oppression/human-rights violations (6). The degree of effective struggle varies widely; some failed while others succeeded (for example, the Gandhian movement in India).

Srdja Popovic’s Blueprint for Revolution offers more recent examples of nonviolent resistance, mostly to defeat internal usurpers. He also updates Sharp’s strategy and tactics, especially for youth in the digital age. He includes an entertaining section on “laughtivism.” Popovic and his colleagues now coach resistance movements worldwide on the strategy and tactics of nonviolence. How much more effective might Sharp’s exemplary resistance movements have been if they had the benefit of this accumulated wisdom? Instead, the resisters had to invent nonviolence in the moment.

Another exemplary case is Ukraine. Ukrainians, when Russia invaded their country in February 2022, undertook many spontaneous and inspirational acts of nonviolent resistance. Civilians blocked tanks and convoys, berated or cajoled Russian soldiers to undermine their resolve, gave wrong directions to Russian convoys, refused to cooperate, and mounted spontaneous protests in occupied towns. But then the bloody carnage on both sides overwhelmed civilian defense.

Consider how more effective Ukraine’s nonviolent defense would have been if it had been planned and Ukrainians trained in non-violent methods. With a civilian defense system in place, the Ukrainian armed forces might have allowed the Russian tanks to enter the country unimpeded. No immediate deaths, no destruction. But what can you, the invader, do with tanks when you face a population united in defiance, unarmed protest and complete non-cooperation? Ukraine might have made itself ungovernable by an occupier.

In addition to the more spontaneous incidents, certain countries have institutionalized civilian defence for varying lengths of time. Consider Sweden: “Total defence” (military plus civilian defence) originated in neutral Sweden in the dangerous 1930s and World War II. Created in 1944, a Swedish Civil Defence Board undertook research on civil defence, organized training and oversaw the construction of air raid shelters. Sweden ran civilian-defence training centres in six cities during the Cold War. In 1986 the agency merged with the fire services board in a new Rescue Services Agency. The end of the Cold War led to a withering of the civil defence component. The initial idea – that all citizens had a duty to protect their country in an organized manner – fell into disuse by the mid 1990s.

The Russian attack on Georgia and seizure of Crimea, however, revived the concept of total defence after 2014. Everyone between the age of 16 and 70 again had an obligation to respond in the event of an invasion or a natural catastrophe. “Everyone is obliged to contribute and everyone is needed” proclaimed a government pamphlet in 2018. Swedes were cautioned in the same pamphlet to prepare themselves for an emergency, though the emphasis was as much on peace-time natural emergencies as war. Nevertheless, in the event of war, the pamphlet declared that “we will never give up”. This basic idea is central to nonviolent resistance: an invader may occupy territory, but total non-cooperation and symbolic opposition will raise the costs of occupation, thereby discouraging invasion in the first place. In principle, all municipalities, voluntary organizations, businesses, trade unions, and religious organizations are required to prepare for civilian defence.

By March 2022, at the height of the war in Ukraine,  one in three Swedes was fairly or very concerned their country would be attacked. Furthermore, a 2021 survey registered popular support for the idea of civil defence: 84 percent of Swedes said they would be willing to play a defence role, so long as it was non-combative.

Sweden is not relying  on civilian defence, of course. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the government raised the defence budget and joined NATO. But the idea of civil defence persists as a defiant complement, to military defence.

Obstacles

Nonviolent resistance is more effective if it is nationally organized and if training is available throughout society. But partisan divides and apathy make such country-wide organization and training improbable in Canada.

Sharp, in Civilian-Based Defense contends that nonviolent defence, to succeed, must adhere to an “all-of-society,” nonpartisan approach. People of both sexes and all ages must participate, according to Sharp. They will do so out of patriotism, the desire to maintain their way of life, and an abhorrence of domestic and foreign usurpers alike. Nonviolent defence is more likely to work where social cohesion is high and democracy and civil society are strong.

However, is this “all-of-society” scenario realistic in today’s world? Most countries, including Canada’s, are riven with partisan divides. Consequently, organization and training for nonviolent resistance, whether organized by the government or voluntary associations, would be viewed with suspicion by right-wing/populist forces as a leftist plot. Conspiracy theories might abound.

Another problem is that alienation and cynicism are rife in Western societies today. What will induce people to devote their free time to training in nonviolence? Motivation is a problem, magnified by partisan divides.

These considerations suggest that a top-down, apolitical organization and training in civilian defense will not work. Nonetheless, training and organization should be the goal of as many organizations as possible within civil society: churches, synagogues, temples, civil rights organizations, unions, indigenous rights organizations, peace organizations, climate groups, for example.  Michael Beer’s manual on more than 300 tactics of nonviolent resistance, which is available free online, is an accessible guide. Widespread training and organization are the road not only for deterring aggression, but also remaining free of tyrants.

Conclusion

Countries bordering on a Great Power, such as Canada, can benefit from nonviolent defense. These countries could not hope to defeat an invading force from the superpower – or at least not without inflicting enormous damage and casualties upon themselves. Besides training as many as possible in the methods of nonviolent defence, civil society organizations would build strong links with peace groups internationally and with sympathetic groups within the superpower. The aim would be to precipitate internal dissent in the aggressor’s country and international condemnation of the invader, possibly including sanctions, in the event of a conflict. This strategy would proceed along with a willingness to negotiate to resolve conflicts with the great-power neighbour.

Nonviolent resistance is one element in a broader program to allow humans to live and thrive in an increasingly dangerous world. Freedom is not free.
Richard Sandbrook is Vice-President of Science for Peace and Professor Emeritus of Political Science at University of Toronto

AS the climate worsens, fascist forces overwhelm liberty and democracy.

Can We Avoid Fascism as the Climate Crisis Worsens?

At a time when global warming stokes ever more extreme weather, the global rise of climate-denialist right-wing populism not only impedes effective responses, but also raises the specter of a dystopian fascist future. Continue reading

Weather will be very changeable unless we institute a Green New Deal.

The Radical Reformist Green New Deal

The radical-reformist Green New Deal (GND) is a more viable approach to the climate emergency than the dominant Green Growth perspective, and it is more politically promising than the Degrowth/Post-capitalist framework.  The political obstacles are still formidable in this age of populist denial. Nonetheless, radical reformism is our best bet. Continue reading

Popular mobilization is crucial

Climate Politics in the Age of Populist Denialism

You can have a scientifically rigorous diagnosis of climate change, together with a plethora of reasonable policies to tackle the problem, but if your program lacks a strong coalition and powerful political strategy, it will fail. Continue reading

Demonstrates use in climate marches of the phrase: "System Change Not Climate Change"

System Change, Not Climate Change?

“System Change, Not Climate Change” declares a  sign co9mmonly seen at climate marches. Is it true?

That depends on what we mean by “system change.”. If it implies that capitalism is incompatible with a stable climate, the sign is incorrect. And that should be an encouraging conclusion. We have grounds for hope if there is an ecologically sustainable form of capitalism. The prospects for “system change” – for overthrowing capitalism – in the next couple of decades are negligible. Change within capitalism is more within the realm of the politically possible.

Grow or Die?

Eco-socialists, Marxists, most “degrowth” proponents, and many others believe that capitalism is inherently growth oriented. If “grow or die” is the logic of capitalism, the search for a path to sustainability within capitalism is doomed. Economic growth is normally associated with increased throughput of energy and materials, and with the generation of more waste products. Yet infinite growth within a finite earth, we all agree, is impossible. The only environmental option, from this viewpoint, is to fight for a post-capitalist/socialist economy.

But is this logic sound? The idea is that, without growth, capitalism flounders. Static capitalism will fail, it is said, owing to an inevitable decline in investment opportunities, leading to a falling rate of profit. The outcome would be a deflationary spiral of shrinking incomes, growing unemployment, and unpaid debts – ultimately, economic collapse.  However, I find this logic unpersuasive.

The real obstacle to ecological sustainability, under capitalism, is not an economistic imperative. Rather, the main impediments are the power of sections of capital and the culture of possessive individualism. Whereas an “inner logic” is immutable, a political-cultural obstacle can be overcome through organization and political action.

“Grow or die” is an incorrect assumption that obstructs climate-change action by suggesting that socialist/postcapitalist revolution is necessary, albeit improbable. If the fight for ecological survival is rather a struggle to shift from one form of capitalism to another, it appears more winnable.

Radical Reformism

Let’s apply these thoughts to a radical Green New Deal that includes constraints on throughputs in the economy and on pollution. Throughput declines, but this change does not necessarily signify a static or stagnant economy. Instead, output shifts in composition and may even increase.  What capitalism requires to survive is compatible with such constraints.

  • Firms can make profits, to sustain investment levels.
  • The incentive system rewards “effort, thrift and innovations.”
  • Firms remain responsive to shifting consumer demand.
  • An ethos of economic advancement continues.

Competition among firms continues in the Green New Deal. Those that develop more efficient production processes will undercut their competitors with lower prices. Competition will also continue over the quality of goods and services and over the introduction of new goods. In short, innovation and entrepreneurship remain key to success in the new, sustainable economy. Investment will continue, enhancing efficiency. Workers will not bear the burden of adjustment. Just transition includes a job guarantee, job-sharing and shorter hours of work; productivity growth can be shared by workers. Governments will maximize employment by taxing “bads”, such as resource use and pollution, rather than “goods, such as payroll taxes and profits.  Corporate debt will bring some firms down. But massive public investment in the early phase, together with Quantitative Easing will create new opportunities for investment in the green economy. Capitalism will survive constrained throughputs, even though some firms will not. Development will continue, even if growth does not.

Capitalism: A Variegated Phenomenon

A conceptual problem clouds the understanding of alternatives: thinking of capitalism as one specific sort of economy, In reality, capitalism is a variegated economic system with individual types that are shaped by their varying institutional contexts. Capitalism, as classically defined, is an economic system in which free labour (but to what extent decommodified?) works for a wage on privately-owned means of production (but with how much public ownership?) to produce commodities (but with how many public goods?) for sale on the market (but under what sort of restrictive regulations?). The questions posed within the definition underline the reality that capitalism is an umbrella term, under which diverse economies shelter.

Institutional frameworks vary significantly. For example, the Keynesian consensus (1944-late 1970s) rested on a different set of rules than the Washington and Post-Washington consensus (neoliberalism) that succeeded it (1980-present). A Green New Deal would operate under a different set of rules than either of these two.

Institutions thus shape economies; but institutions can be changed. If the rules of an economy permit the exploitation of nature (and labour), then nature (and labour) will be exploited by corporations, to the detriment of society. Why? Because the firms that scrupulously avoid degrading nature (or exploiting labour) will be undercut by competing firms that have no such scruples. The rules of the game (institutions) must be redefined to rule out such exploitation by any actors. And firms can, and will, adjust to the new rules.

Conclusion

The problem posed by climate change is not an implacable economic logic, but a matter of power structures and popular attitudes. It will require a hard struggle to defeat the fossil fuel industry and its supporters, let alone tackle the possessive-individualist mentality. But it can, and must, be done.

Degrowth: Desirable but Improbable

Degrowth is a growing intellectual movement among those alarmed by the climate crisis. Its proponents envision a desirable world which has not only come to terms with the ecological crisis, but also is more egalitarian and convivial than our current societies, both in the global North and South. Advocates also provide a cogent critique of economic growth. They contend, perhaps less cogently, that capitalism is the problem because it is inherently growth oriented. One finds, in addition, the analysis of many relevant policies, at both the national and global level, for overcoming the climate/ecological crisis and building an egalitarian society. However, the political strategy for moving from our current situation to the desirable world is underdeveloped. It seems highly improbable that we will witness an allegedly necessary transformation of capitalism in the next decade or two, let alone a nonviolent transformation.

Scope

Some of the terms are confusing. All eco-socialists are degrowthers, but not all degrowthers are eco-socialists (though most are). The degrowth movement is diverse; yet many (probably most) degrowth proponents, together with eco-socialists, believe that system change is needed to safeguard the environment and build an equitable society. Radical degrowth advocates prefer to refer to the future they want as “post-capitalism” rather than post-growth or socialism. “Post-growth” is a suspect term, from their viewpoint. That is because those who believe that capitalism is compatible with ecological sustainability prefer the term “post-growth.” “Post-capitalism,” on the other hand, declares that capitalism is the problem; the term avoids the ideological baggage of socialism, while implying an anti-capitalist orientation.

Origins

Degrowth as a theory and program emerged in France in the 2000s, later spreading to the rest of Europe, and then to North America and the world.

Degrowth has long intellectual roots. The movement sides with the famous Limits to Growth report to the Club of Rome in 1972. André Gorz, a French eco-Marxist who wrote presciently about ecological destruction and capitalism in the 1970s and 1980s, is another important influence.

That the origins of degrowth lie in the universities, and that it remains largely an intellectual movement, is not incidental Many books and articles in the degrowth tradition are demanding to read for those who lack training in the social sciences. One wonders who the audience is for many of the books and articles: mainly activist-scholars, it appears. The academic exigency of publish (in specific refereed journals) or perish seems to have molded the expression of degrowth. There is an effort to popularize the approach, such as in the perplexing slogan found at climate marches – “System Change, Not Climate Change.”

Essence

What is degrowth all about? I think nearly all advocates would agree that degrowth concerns an equitable downscaling of production and consumption that increases human well-being and enhances ecological conditions at the national and global levels “- with degrowth starting in the rich countries, but soon including, with technological and monetary assistance, the countries of the global South. Proponents promise a good life for all within the planet’s ecological boundaries.

Politics

One problem with this approach, and the criticism that sparks anger in its adherents, is the improbability of achieving this transformative program within a couple of decades (which is the time we have available). The quandary of degrowth is captured by the ironic slogan that was scrawled on the walls of Paris in 1968: “Be realistic. Demand the Impossible.”

  • “Be realistic”: Degrowth’s central idea is realistic. The idea of infinite growth on a finite planet is absurd.

There is, in short, a major political problem with degrowth.

Consider the dimensions of this problem.

  • Who will vote for degrowth (besides you and me)? Degrowth has a negative connotation. “Post-growth” is more positive, if vague. “Post-capitalism” would scare many people – what is proposed? Right-wing populists would feast on the doctrine, were it to be a contender for power. They would swiftly discredit the program as the product of “woke” socialists whose real goal is to abolish private property and impose new taxes and restrictions on liberty. (Trump’s White House condemned even a rather tame version of the Green New Deal in 2019 “as seeking to achieve what Stalin tried, and failed, to achieve.”)
  • Where is the mass movement? Degrowth constitutes an intellectual movement, mainly of those associated with universities throughout the world. The doctrine is complex, assuming prior knowledge of economic history, ecology, and social theory. Many of the major works on the topic are unlikely to engage a mass audience.
  • Degrowth in one country will not work.   It is predictable what will happen if a degrowth-influenced government assumes power. Capital flight and capital strike will lead to a decline in the value of the national or regional currency; the resulting inflation of prices and growing unemployment and shortages will produce an economic crisis; and this economic crisis will precipitate a political crisis in which the government backs down or collapses. What is needed is a globally coordinated movement in several countries at once; but such coordination is hard to achieve and nowhere in sight.
  • Will an ecological crisis galvanize support for a radical degrowth program? It might. However, we encountered such a crisis in 2023 in the form of extreme weather throughout the world, along with the warmest year on record, and it did not lead to a shift to the left. Indeed, a widespread ecological crisis, owing to the insecurity and fear it would unleash, might bolster the far right. Fascist themes of blood and earth and of imposed order might prevail, together with the scapegoating of migrants fleeing ecological and political disasters in their homelands.

Conclusion

Degrowth is acute in identifying continuous economic growth as a problem, though its further argument that capitalism is inherently growth oriented is problematical. Its vision of a future society governed by the equitable and democratic downscaling of production and consumption is highly attractive. Degrowth advocates have also developed an array of worthy policies. But the political strategy is lacking, even though degrowthers recognize the political challenges.

If green growth (as previously argued) is inadequate to the climate challenge, degrowth is impracticable. We arrive at an impasse. But this reform-versus-revolution dichotomy is too crude: there is a third alternative (leaving fascist denialism and eco-anarchism aside): a radical-reformist Green New Deal.

World Bank suppprts the nmotion of inclusive green growth

Why “Green Growth” Is Not the Answer to the Climate Crisis

Green growth is the dominant perspective on climate mitigation. Governments, international organizations such as the World Bank and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Developmentcorporations, and most people in their role as consumers operate within this consensus. Its bold claim is that countries can combine perpetual growth and prosperity with safeguarding ecological conditions for later generations. The claim, however, is dubious. Continue reading

Climate and Capitalism: Is System Change the Answer?

This 55-minute lecture assesses approaches for surmounting the accelerating climate crisis. i focus on the desirability, viability, and potential feasibility of these approaches.

The argument is simple.

What is possible (Green Growth) is inadequate to the challenge of climate change, whereas what is necessary and desirable (Degrowth) is impossible in the short time available to us. To escape this impasse, we need to forego reformism and radicalism in favour of radical reformism – a supplemented Green New Deal.

Report to the Club of Rome

The “Earth for All” Report: Good Policies, Inadequate Politics

It is a harsh truth: no matter how sound the analysis of a problem and no matter how reasonable and progressive the proposed policy solutions, without a workable political strategy, the vision is more in the way of wishful thinking than a practical guide. Continue reading

Image, supplied by Ukraine Department of Defense, illustrates the ferocity of the Ukraine war

In Ukraine, Neither Side Is Blameless

Richard Sandbrook and Arnd Jurgensen

Richard Sandbrook is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at University of Toronto. Arnd Jurgensen lectures in international relations at University of Toronto. Both are executive members of Science for Peace, whose board members debated the issues discussed here.

One prevalent explanation of the war in Ukraine pins the blame on Russia; the other, which has little institutional backing in the West, but far more outside the West, blames NATO. Proponents of each view largely ignore the opposing interpretation. Both sides agree the war is illegal under international law, but there the agreement ends. For those who blame NATO, their declaration of the illegality of the invasion is largely a formality because, from their viewpoint, NATO provoked Russia to invade Ukraine. For those who blame Russia, the invasion is not only illegal under international law but also a travesty of “unprovoked” aggression. Continue reading