#geopolitics
Hey so real quick -
I know a lot of you are young. This might be the first time you remember seeing a war break out. So I want to just give you a useful concept for thinking about this and talking about it over the next few weeks, in case you aren’t already familiar with it. That concept realpolitik.
It’s a German word that means “practical politics” (pronounced “ree-AHL pol-uh-TEEK”). What it means might be intuitively obvious, but I think it’s really helpful to have it in your back pocket as a concrete, widely-understood bit of terminology, because it can help you avoid confusion when you are talking about the crisis in Ukraine, or listening to other people talk about the crisis in Ukraine.
Realpolitik is a political and diplomatic concept that distinguishes actions taken by nations for ethical reasons fromactions taken by nations for practical reasons. That distinction - the existence of that distinction that is invoked by bringing up realpolitik - is really important in an online atmosphere where the two are often conflated out of bad faith, virtue signaling, or hysteria.
What I mean by that is: it is not a contradiction to say “the invasion of Ukraine is wrong” and “the invasion of Ukraine makes sense.” One is an ethical analysis of the situation; the other is realpolitik.
And you’re going to see a lot of people having both kinds of conversations in the coming days. And it’s important to remember that both are worth having. It is, of course, very important to emphasize the horror and unfairness of this unjust and inhumane invasion. It is, also, very important to be able to set that aside, and discuss the pragmatic causes and results of that invasion.
It is normal and sane to be upset and emotional right now. But before you get upset at something you read for sounding bloodless - or, worse, heartless - I want you to be able to ask yourself: is this a conversation about morality, or is this a conversation about realpolitik?
We are going to need both to understand what’s happening right now and what we should do about it going forward.
