In watching Faith Under Siege, reading the articles, and listening to the podcast on Reuters, it becomes clear that war itself has changed and global cooperation or at least nations holding one another accountable is more important than ever.
Like oil and nuclear weapons, drones have now become a resource that allows countries to have a greater chance at competing on the world stage, furthering their presence. This can be seen in the case of Ukraine, but even more interesting than the Ukrainian use of drones is the role civilians are playing in the war effort even though the country has a military.
It had me curious how although the United States has a stronger military, what a potential war would look like if civilians had to get involved in fighting back. My initial thought is that various militia groups may jump at the charge to fight as many are anti-government, and they may think that if given technological resources, they can be more effective than any military branch could be. Whereas on the other hand, those same militias tend to be very far-right, and some members in these groups have admitted to wanting to cause chaos, and having violent fantasies. They may use these drones and other technology to focus on a different common enemy that doesn’t align with the U.S government’s interests, not an opposing nation, but immigrants who they think don’t deserve to be in their country. If this were the case, then civilians “contributing” to the war effort wouldn’t be any better than the individuals who are contributing to the increase in attacks on asylum seekers and refugee shelters in Berlin as written about in The Guardian article.
What the readings, podcast, and documentary all represent is the quest for control and/or power in the face of the uncertainty that comes with war. Additionally, what the materials this week do a good job at is trying to show how the war impacts those at a local level who have seen devastation in their communities, how it is seen at a foreign policy level by heads of government, and diplomats, and how the current war on Ukraine has implications for technology going forward.
Given the amount of time the war has gone on for, it’s easier to not always stay updated or to feel like it is a lost cause. As mentioned in the article, the author makes the claim that Putin has concluded that “Trump will never be serious about punishing Russia for its refusal to accept a ceasefire or engage in serious peace talks,” and he’s right. Trump seems to never push Putin on the issue, never prioritizing standing with the US’s European allies and instead only focusing on being besties with Putin as shown in his summit with him in Alaska that resulted in a photo op and asking politely for a ceasefire, in which Putin said no and there was no backtalk from Mr. Trump.
Similar to where neighboring countries of Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Belgium have all left Germany to uphold the international protection regime and to fight its immigration crisis by themselves. Inaction and not having a unified front is only giving into Russia and this is leading to more Ukranian’s lives being disrupted, anti-immigrant rhetoric increasing, and many immigrants living off a “bed, bread, soap” lifestyle when there is more that can and should be done.
