As the situation in and around Ukraine has heated up in the past few months, so has the debate between foreign policy experts, reaching unprecedented levels of volume and candour.
One position is ‘liberal internationalist’. Here, the focus is that Ukraine has a sovereign right to aspire to NATO membership, faces unjustified military aggression by Russia (because, they argue, Russia harbours imperialist goals and is afraid of a thriving democracy next door), has made its civilisational choice in favour of the West, and that the West should therefore defend Ukraine (militarily or through sanctions) and generally deter Russia across Eastern Europe.
The other position, which is the ‘realist-restraint’ position, maintains that Western governments are neither willing nor able to support Ukraine militarily against Russia and should refrain from vague promises of NATO membership. This position also suggests that Russia has (legitimate or at least inevitable) security interests, and that conflicts such as the one in eastern Ukraine are best resolved through negotiations.
