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LYNCHBURG, Va. (WFXR) — Lynchburg University professor Marek Payerhin grew up watching Russia from his childhood home in Poland. Now he teaches international relations and political science here in Virginia. Payerhin says history is at stake in the current crisis.
“There are echoes of the past in there, like the Cuban Missile Crisis when the world was on the brink of disaster, of nuclear war,” Payerhin said. “Some of these compromises may not be in America’s best interests today.”
Payerhin says it’s critical that the United States — and all of NATO — stand firm and avoid any form of appeasement with Russia.
But Payerhin also thinks the United States overemphasizes the threat of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“I think Russia is much better off, and I think Putin knows that very well, with threatening aggression, being the threatening bully, but not necessarily attacking,” Payerhin said, adding that launching an attack would result in costs, both in lives and lives. geopolitical relationships. “Whereas without invasion, he gets whatever he wants. I think the western alliance is quite shaken by the situation.
A series of world leaders have visited Russia in recent weeks.
“The attention given to Putin, you see how much international stature he has gained,” Payerhin said.
Payerhin says Putin and the Kremlin are ready to play the long game, but wonders if the US and NATO will have the same stamina. Payerhin says the United States must stand firm in its current position.
“We don’t have to go to war,” he said. “We must be prepared to take on this responsibility, but we must not avoid the responsibility of saying no.”
Payherin says that the United States must deny Russia the possibility of heavily arming Ukraine so that it does not join NATO.
NATO did not invite the country of 40 million people to join the alliance. However, Payerhin said allowing Russia to influence Ukraine’s ability to join could set a disastrous example for countries like China to bully smaller places like Taiwan.