Russia-Ukraine war: Freedom genie out of bottle there’s no puttin’ it back

Powerful positive signs shine out amid scary news about the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

As Fareed Zakaria argues in the Washington Post, the liberal international order has more defenders than many imagined.

“The people of Ukraine are showing us that the values – of an open society and a free world – can be worth fighting for and even dying for.”

An early indication was the response of border guards on Ukraine’s Snake Island. When a Russian naval officer called on them to surrender or be shot, they replied: “Go f**k yourself.”

Daily, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy demonstrates a similar spirit of defiance in defence of freedom, which has caught on around the world, including in Russia. Loud anti-Putin noises are heard even in the United Nations General Assembly, where Vlad the Invader expected more support.

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Putin has miscalculated. Associated Press reports that antiwar activists have been taking to the streets across Russia. Al Jazeera says protesters have been arrested in 54 Russian cities.

Anti-Putin protests have been reported in the US, UK, Switzerland, Finland, Austria, Italy, Israel, France, Greece, Argentina, Canada, Brazil, Japan, Mexico and Taiwan, among others. There have also been protests in South Africa, at odds with the stance of our government.

While there were contradictory official statements, our minister of defence gave a clear signal by attending a cocktail function at the Russian ambassador’s Pretoria residence in honour of the Russian Defence Force – after the invasion of Ukraine had begun.

No surprise there. Under the ANC, South Africa has a history of siding with oppressive regimes, including Zimbabwe, Cuba, North Korea, Myanmar, and Sudan. Bowing to China over a visa for the Dalai Lama is another example.

All the above governments share with the ANC a command and control mentality which restricts liberty. With the invasion of Ukraine, we are witnessing a pivotal moment for the course of civilisation. In crude terms, open society versus repressive control. We don’t have to be on the wrong side.

As Yuval Noah Harari writes in the Guardian: “The war in Ukraine will shape the future of the entire world. “If tyranny and aggression are allowed to win, we will all suffer the consequences.”

Will tyranny and oppression be allowed to win? Is the liberal approach too soft to defeat an aggressor such as Putin?

Students of history may recall Joseph Stalin’s sardonic response to suggestions that Pope Pius XII be involved in decisions about post-WWII Europe.

He asked: “How many divisions does the Pope have?”

That was the Man of Steel’s put-down of soft power. Yet, ultimately, it was the power of ideas – of freedom – that in 1989 tore down the wall which Stalin’s successors built to keep east and west Berlin apart. Putin, hankering for the period before the fall of the Berlin Wall, seeks to recreate a semblance of the influence once yielded by Moscow.

But those days are gone. The Iron Curtain cannot be resurrected. The genie of freedom is out of the bottle and there’s no puttin’ it back.

The ANC, also stuck in a Soviet-era mindset, must realise the “game over” signs are flashing.