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How the west brought war to ukraine

UNDERSTANDING HOW U.S. AND NATO POLICIES LED TO CRISIS, WAR, AND THE RISK OF NUCLEAR CATASTROPHE

Endorsements

"Very well-done.... Reviews material that should be much better known."

—Noam Chomsky

Institute Professor emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Laureate Professor of Linguistics, University of Arizona

“A brilliant, remarkably concise explanation of the danger that U.S. and NATO military involvement in Ukraine has created. It needs to be read and pondered by every citizen capable of thinking rationally and responsibly about American and European security.”

—Jack F. Matlock, Jr.

former U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union, author of Superpower Illusions

“For anyone interested in understanding the true causes of the disaster in Ukraine, How the West Brought War to Ukraine is required reading. Abelow makes a clear and compelling case that the United States and its NATO allies—not Vladimir Putin—are the principal culprits.”

—John J. Mearsheimer

author of The Tragedy of Great Power Politics, is the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago

“This is a splendid little book, tautly written, logically organized, easy to read, and persuasive but appropriately caveated. It is an invaluable primer on the trends and events that produced the escalating warfare in Ukraine.”

—Chas Freeman

previously Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, author of Arts of Power: Statecraft and Diplomacy

“For those concerned about U.S. national security and the peace of Europe, this book is essential reading.”

—Douglas Macgregor

Colonel (Retired), U.S. Army, author of Margin of Victory, was decorated for valor in the Battle of 73 Easting in Iraq and served as Director of NATO’s Joint Operations Center at SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters of Allied Powers in Europe)

“A concise yet comprehensive and accessible overview. Invaluable for understanding how war once again came to Europe. Benjamin Abelow demonstrates that the crisis in Ukraine was predictable, predicted—and avoidable.”

—Richard Sakwa

author of Frontline Ukraine and The Putin Paradox, is Professor of Russian and European Politics, University of Kent

“Ben Abelow takes us beyond the false narratives and into the truth of the Ukraine crisis.”

— Krishen Mehta

Senior Global Justice Fellow, Yale University, and Director, American Committee for US-Russia Accord

“In the Ukraine proxy war between the United States/NATO and Russia, we face a threat of nuclear escalation that could end human civilization. Abelow’s book is essential reading for all who wish to understand this threat and why, 30 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, it has re-emerged.”

—Gilbert Doctorow

author of Memoirs of a Russianist, is an historian and independent Russia specialist based in Brussels

PUBLISHED REVIEWS

“Any thinking reader who would better understand the myriad of influences on the Ukraine situation needs to read this book.”

Midwest Book Review

—Reviewed by D. Donovan, Senior Review

“How the West Brought War to Ukraine is admirably clear on the circumstances that brought the war about.”

Asia Times

—Reviewed by James W. Carden, former adviser to the US-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission at the US Department of State.

“The strength of Abelow’s book is that it makes complexity accessible. Wars have so many moving parts, and Abelow with a deft hand guides the reader along…. This is a rare talent nowadays.”

The Postil

—Reviewed by C.B. Forde

“How the West Brought War to Ukraine is a succinct, accessible introduction to an often overlooked aspect of the 2022 war in Ukraine.”

Foreword Clarion Reviews

—Reviewed by Eileen Gonzalez

“How the West Brought War to Ukraine will serve as an invaluable primer.”

Acura Viewpoint

—Reviewed by David Speedie, former chair of the program on cooperative security, Carnegie Corporation of New York.

“It would be a serious mistake to discount Abelow as unduly pro-Russian in his sympathies. The efforts he supports to secure a peaceful settlement by making concessions to Russia are in the best interests of the Ukrainians themselves, even those hostile to Russia.”

Mises Wire

—Reviewed by David Gordon

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE UKRAINE WAR?

Washington and the mainstream media assert that Vladimir Putin is a Hitler-like expansionist who invaded Ukraine in an unprovoked land grab. If you disagree—or even if you are unsure—you may be called “Putin’s puppet” or a “dupe of the Kremlin.”

In this book, I present the other side of the story. I show that Russia’s invasion is best understood as a response to misguided and provocative Western policies, especially to the encroachment of U.S. and NATO forces on Russia’s borders. Had the shoe been on the other foot—had Russia acted toward the U.S the way the U.S acted toward Russia—Washington would have gone to war, too.

This book tells the story that Washington and its allies—the Western politicians and military strategists who helped cause this catastrophe—do not want you to hear.

VIDEO AND AUDIO OF THE AUTHOR

Is Western support for the Ukraine war "humanitarian"?

(2 minutes 20 seconds)

Does Ukraine have a "right" to join NATO?

(2 minutes 18 seconds)

Interview with U.S. Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

(1 hour 10 minutes)

Interview with tech entrepreneur and culture critic Andrew Keen.

(39 minutes)

About the author

Benjamin Abelow is an American citizen who believes that U.S. and NATO policies are causing great harm to Ukraine, Europe, the United States, and the Global South. He previously worked in Washington, DC, on nuclear arms issues. He has a B.A. in European history from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.D. from the Yale School of Medicine, where he also served as Lecturer in Medicine. His other areas of interest include the study of trauma, including war trauma.

Abelow has been interviewed on multiple Apple-listed podcasts and appeared on Italian, Slovenian, and Russian television. He has debated the chairman of the political science department at Swarthmore College and discussed his book with students attending the Williams College Summer Institute in American Foreign Policy. To date, his book has been translated into German, French, Italian, Polish, Danish, Dutch, and Slovenian, with additional translations forthcoming. Figures across the political spectrum have tweeted about the book, including Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (progressive) and the British intellectual Peter Hitchens (conservative).

Abelow can be reached at b.abelow.2022@gmail.com.

How the West Brought War to Ukraine is Available From:

To read the English edition free online in essay format, click here.

To download a free PDF of the German translation (without the endnotes), click here.

Q & A

Q: Does this book defend the Russian invasion?

A: My goal is not to defend the invasion but to explain why it happened. Most American citizens have heard a sugarcoated explanation of how this war came about. This explanation is one-sided and simplistic. It says that the West is all good and Russia is all evil. I try to balance that account. The truth can be painful, but it is nonetheless essential—because if you don’t diagnose a problem correctly, you won’t be able to find a solution.

Q: Isn’t our involvement in the war a humanitarian effort?

A: The war has been portrayed as a humanitarian endeavor but it is actually a humanitarian disaster. The war is destroying Ukraine, killing and maiming tens of thousands of Ukrainians, and displacing millions. And the longer the war goes on, the worse things will get. Even a Western victory likely would destroy Ukraine. Such a “victory” almost certainly would require a long, bloody, highly destructive war fought on Ukrainian territory with tremendous loss of Ukrainian life, both of soldiers and civilians. Further, the war carries an unacceptable risk of going nuclear, and that could be the ultimate catastrophe. A nuclear war could kill hundreds of millions or even billions of people.

Q: What is the solution?

A: The best solution is a rapidly negotiated settlement. This solution is far from perfect, but it is much better than an ongoing war. There is a reason diplomacy is often called the “art of the possible.” We live in the real world, with real constraints. We must recognize that fact. Neither side is going to come away entirely satisfied but at least the destruction of Ukraine will be limited and the world will not be subject to the risk of nuclear war.

To read a full interview with the author about the Ukraine war, click here

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