A history and current affairs analyst warns that the United States’ foreign policy regarding the Russia-Ukraine war is tantamount to narratives from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
During a new episode of The Pete Quiñones Show, Josiah Lippincott, an author who describes himself as a “regime critic,” discussed the dangers of current U.S. foreign policy with the show’s host.
“It almost seems like someone wants World War III, like somebody wants these missiles to start flying, and, well, why? Why?” Quiñones asked. “Iraq was never this important. Afghanistan, even though we were in it for 20 years, was never — this is like life and death to them.”
Lippencott suggested that beyond the financial incentives for defense contractors, there exists a “view of justice, [an] ideological view [that’s] very important.”
“I really think the consensus view among most of the people in D.C. is that this is a war of righteousness,” he said. “It's being waged against eternal evil manifested in Vladimir Putin, who is, you know, basically … this eternal evil Thanos come back to destroy the world in the Marvel Cinematic Universe view of how foreign policy works.”
“We've ended up with a foreign policy establishment which has all of the wrong motives,” Lippincott continued. “There are cynical financial motives, crazed ideological motives, and then you've got just the sort of blatant stupidity on top of all of this. How many pants-suited girlbosses are there in the State Department who are kind of sublimating a problematic relationship with their father onto Vladimir Putin and using that to make policy?”
Later in the conversation, Quiñones said that if World War III broke out, Putin would be to blame.
“Why? Because he invaded a neighboring land where everyone speaks the same language as him, and he was doing that because his people were being abused — oh, wait a minute, I've seen this movie before,” he said, claiming the scenario was similar to Hitler’s invasion of the German-Prussian town of Danzig in 1939.
“I think this goes back to the Marvel Cinematic Universe view of politics,” Lippencott said. “The complex geopolitics leading up to World War II, especially in the East, are not well understood by Americans.”
“Ukraine … is a very recently created country — only about 30 years old in terms of meaningful independence — and by the way, it’s not independent,” he continued. “Ukraine has basically indefensible borders. It is in the immediate sphere of influence and interest of a much larger power. At the same time, you also have Western governments with a lot of interest in that country. So, you have these factions fighting all the time within your regime.”
Lippincott, a PhD candidate at Hillsdale College, noted similarities between Poland during World War II and Ukraine today.
“When you're a power like Ukraine … you can’t really be sovereign in the ordinary sense. How can you be sovereign?” he said. “What does it even mean to be sovereign when, at any moment, any Western government or the Russians are going to be deeply involved in your politics and determining basically what government you’re going to have?”
Lippincott continued:This is the problem. Again, we need to take a step back from the moralizing Marvel Cinematic Universe view of foreign policy and just look at the facts. A war with a nuclear-armed power by the United States government would not be good for the American people, period. … Warsaw was leveled during World War II because of foreign policy decisions made by their government. They made mistakes and they paid for it. They were just brutalized by two great powers. I think the Ukrainians are making very similar mistakes now. How does this benefit you? What is your future going to be like after you take a million casualties in this war?
He then suggested that a major war should be avoided at all costs.
“I mean, I will be seen as villainous for advocating for peace, for advocating for not having a major war. That’s how messed up our politics are right now,” he said.
Lippincott joins other prominent voices who are advocating for an end to the war in Ukraine following the Biden Administration's potential approval to use long-range weapons against Russia.
In response to the news, Putin said they would be forced to “make appropriate decisions in response.”
“This will mean that NATO countries – the United States and European countries – are at war with Russia,” he said.
In a Sept. 17 joint op-ed, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Donald Trump Jr. demanded for the U.S. to negotiate with Russia for peace.
They wrote that “this game of nuclear ‘chicken’ has gone far enough.”
“The war fever in the U.S. foreign policy establishment is at such a pitch that it is hard to tell whether they believe their own rhetoric,” they said. “In last Tuesday’s debate, Vice President Kamala Harris conjured up images of Russian forces rolling across Europe. Surely she must know how absurd that is. For one thing, Russia can barely wrest a few provinces from Ukraine, which is by no means one of Europe’s great powers.”
The authors noted that Putin stated his goals of Ukraine neutrality and an end to NATO’s eastward expansion early on. Moreover, the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives and hundreds of billions of dollars have not benefitted Europe, America, or Ukraine, they argue.
“It is past time to de-escalate this conflict,” Kennedy and Trump wrote. “This is more important than any of the political issues our nation argues about. Nuclear war would mean the end of civilization as we know it, maybe even the end of the human species.”
This week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will present a “Plan for Victory” to President Joe Biden and Congress.
“We need peace, exactly as envisioned by the Peace Formula. Exactly as envisioned by the UN Charter. We are doing everything for this,” he said in a statement. “Weapons to defend our independence and our people. Diplomacy to consolidate partners and force Russia into peace. And justice so that Russia is held accountable for this war and feels its consequences.”
Zelensky added: “I thank the United States, our leading supporter, and every nation that has shown independence and leadership in helping us protect people and prevent Russia from expanding this war. When Ukraine succeeds in defending itself, every other democratic nation will benefit from this.”
