E19: Ukraine: Are weapons really the way to peace?

The past weeks have seen a shift in Western involvement in the war between Ukraine and Russia. In a dramatic U-turn, Germany, the US, and the UK massively upgraded their military assistance to Ukraine, agreeing to send the country 100 tanks on top of billions in war aid. While Germany’s foreign minister admitted for the first time: “We are fighting a war against Russia”.

Meanwhile, DiEM25’s Yanis Varoufakis was in Cuba, where he delivered a speech arguing for a very different approach: that Europe and countries around the world should reject military blocs and massive weapons deployments, and instead unite around a New Non-Aligned Movement. It’s been almost a year since Putin illegally invaded Ukraine. With both sides preparing for springtime offensives, and tens of thousands of deaths on both sides, it’s time to re-assess what’s really happening here. 

Are “weapons the way to peace”, as the head of NATO argued in Davos this week? Are we dangerously goading a nuclear-armed nation in a proxy war with the West, while arms makers profit? Or is there a greater geopolitical game afoot? 

Our panel, including Varoufakis and Julijiana Zita, investigate.

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