Smoke and mirrors

12/3/2022

The war in Ukraine is terrible and devastating. Yet - why is the UK media largely reporting only one side of such a complex and painful story? As the West, we still need to answer a fundamental and critical question posed by a Russian diplomat on Friday:

‘For the past several decades, our country has repeatedly raised how we feel in danger after you moved your military infrastructure in our direction. We don’t like it and we feel in danger and we can’t close our eyes to it: so why are you doing it?’ (Reuters)

Is this just Russian deflection: smoke and mirrors? It's tempting to dismiss that which doesn't fit with our chosen narrative, yet we don’t secure or safeguard democracy or peace by seeing or hearing only that which we want to see or hear. What do you think?

30 Comments

Jayne

12/3/2022 06:26:16 pm

I get the point but it is no reason to blast Ukraine to pieces.

Nick Wright

12/3/2022 06:26:49 pm

Hi Jayne. I agree. It’s absolutely no excuse to attack Ukraine.

Alex

12/3/2022 06:47:43 pm

Hi Nick. Here are some thoughts it triggered for me:

As we and our our kids learned the history of the first and second world wars, what might might the history lessons be that their kids and grand kids learn about this period of Russian / European/ world history?

That Russian history was infused with a self-perception as a noble, courageous, but beleaguered, threatened and victimised country? That Europe and the US had a history of moral superiority while pursuing gain through proxy wars around the world?

Maybe our kids will understand better than us that we all create our own experience. That Russia’s story of itself and ‘the West’s sorry of itself is just that; their own story. But that there were also real victims of those stories.

Victims of the story, like the Russian parents losing their sons. Victims like Russians losing their livelihoods through western sanctions. Victims like the 283 passengers and 15 crew killed when Russia shot down Malaysian Airline’s flight 17 in 2014 because of ‘the story’. Victims like Dawn Sturgess killed in Russias chemical attack in Salisbury because of the story. Victims like the men, women and children of Aleppo in Syria. Like Grozny, Georgia, and now Mariupol and the millions fleeing for their lives across Ukraine.

The victims of ‘the story’ will one day fill a vast memorial. And let’s hope our children’s children learn from it. Because this generation certainly hasn’t yet.

Nick Wright

12/3/2022 06:58:55 pm

Hi Alex. Thank you for expressing so well the immense power of narrative. It strikes me that, if we are to create hope for the future, we will need to work hard to hear the narratives of others - including those of whom, on the face of it, we fundamentally and ferociously disagree with. Only then, perhaps, can we co-create futures based on mutual empathy and respect.

'There were also real victims of those stories.' Yes, indeed. These are the tragic and traumatic consequences when people, groups and larger entities are unable or unwilling to find more constructive ways forward. Martin Luther King once said, 'Violence is the voice of the unheard.' It's also sometimes the voice of the deranged, the demonic or the despotic dictator.

Alex

12/3/2022 09:16:21 pm

Hi Nick. Don’t know if you read any Bill Bowder. I read Red Notice and it was a chilling account of how far Putin's regime will go to self protect. I’ve not read the other, Freezing Order, which is even more recent, so I can only imagine it will be equally well researched and written.

For me now, the question is the one asked by Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer in the face of Hitler’s atrocities. As a Christian, does he remain non-violent, or does the time ever come when evil needs to be defeated, and in his case he chose to align himself with those seeking to kill Hitler.

It cost him his life. But the question Europe and the world is facing is how do we respond to evil in 2022?

Nick Wright

12/3/2022 09:25:59 pm

Hi Alex. I haven't read those books but, from how you describe them, they sound pretty sobering. My impression is that Putin has gradually, over time, eroded democracy completely in Russia and turned it into an oppressive police state to serve, largely, his own self-interest. It does have some resonances with Hitler and what became Nazi Germany.

Yes - how to respond as a follower of Jesus. It's an important and difficult question. I struggle to imagine how Dietrich Bonhoeffer managed to find such courage in the face of the ruthless and sadistic Nazi regime and, at the same time, I can only imagine how terrible those very conditions must have become for him to take that stance. We need wisdom.

Mark

12/3/2022 06:59:39 pm

Sounds like bullocks to me. NATO is a defensive force to safeguard peaceful countries from dictatorships run by fascists. Of course you are welcome to listen to their propaganda but don't believe it and don't share it. That's how Trump came to power.

Nick Wright

12/3/2022 07:00:25 pm

Hi Mark. Isn’t one of the hallmarks of fascism: silencing..? Just sayin’. 🤐

Mark

12/3/2022 07:49:21 pm

Get out there and support the anti vaxxers and Trump supporters and white supremacists. After all far be it from anyone to actually take a stand against madness. After all it worked for Hitler not to be challenged, same for Putin. I look forward to you sharing Kremlin posts about the validity of the war.

Nick Wright

12/3/2022 07:50:01 pm

Wow, Mark - that's quite a leap. Is it really true that, to ask such questions is to support Putin and his disastrous, devastating and completely unjustifed war (let alone anti-vaxers, Trump, white supremacists and Hitler)? The world has hope if we can find different ways to hold open and constructive conversations.

Mark

12/3/2022 09:31:34 pm

How do you hold open and constructive conversations with people with closed and destructive minds?

Nick Wright

13/3/2022 10:33:10 pm

Hi Mark. I guess a related question, and a critically-important one as a backdrop to this war is: who is not listening - and why..?

Kathrin

12/3/2022 07:04:30 pm

Hi Nick. Estland, Lettland, Litauen sind auch in der EU und die Nato ist nahe bei Russland. Warum ist die Ukraine und ihr Wunsch, zum Westen zu gehören für Putin das Problem? Er hatte schon viel früher beim Baltikum den Westen nahe bei Russland.

Es gibt Artikel und Berichte im Fernsehen, warum Putin jetzt so handelt. Aber ein Krieg kann nie die Lösung sein. DAS verstehen wir nicht und DIESE Bilder sind schrecklich. Daher ist alles schlimm, was Russland im Moment macht.

Die Menschen in der Ukraine können nichts für die Politik, den Wunsch der Ukraine für Westen, die Angst von Russland vor Westen. Auch wenn wir an Russland und seine Gründe denken sollen, es gibt Krieg, durch Russland. Putin wollte es seit langem.

Nick Wright

12/3/2022 07:12:51 pm

Hi Kathrin. Gut gesagt. Ich kann nur vermuten, was Putin im Kopf hat und was seine wahren Beweggründe für diesen Krieg sind.

Auch wenn seine angeführten Gründe einigermaßen glaubhaft sind, rechtfertigt dies meiner Ansicht nach nicht, einen souveränen Staat anzugreifen und seinem Volk solch schreckliches Leid zuzufügen.

Es ist heute schrecklich, einige der Nebenwirkungen zu sehen – einschließlich Menschen- und Sexhändler in Nachbarländern, die versuchen, schutzbedürftige weibliche Flüchtlinge auszunutzen.

Kathrin

12/3/2022 08:55:46 pm

Bitte lass dir nicht den Mut und die Kraft nehmen, deine Gedanken im Blog zu schreiben. Es ist wichtig für uns, deine Blogs und Perspektiven zu lesen und davon zu lernen. Auch zu diskutieren, aber nicht ärgerlich. 🙏

Nick Wright

12/3/2022 08:57:48 pm

Danke Kathrin. Ich schätze deine Ermutigung und Unterstützung.

David

12/3/2022 07:13:47 pm

Hi Nick. Sounds like the opposite of Macbeth - a lion is terrified of a hare or an eagle afraid of a sparrow!

Nick Wright

12/3/2022 07:14:19 pm

Hi David. I don't understand! Can you say more..?

David

12/3/2022 09:33:39 pm

The seat grant, when asked if Macbeth was discouraged when, after fighting one battle, the Norwegian king rocked up to fight with his army ... he replied that Macbeth was as afraid as a lion is of a hare, and as an eagle, is afraid of a sparrow!

Nick Wright

12/3/2022 09:34:56 pm

Ah. I don't remember Norwegians making an appearance in Macbeth. I'll need to re-read it! :)

Pete

12/3/2022 07:22:33 pm

Hi Nick. Your thought provoking blogs are so good. It’s so important to remain humble and, in supporting action against unjust aggression, to try to understand the ‘why?’ And to ask have we also failed in some way?

I can’t excuse the way Putin/Russia are acting against Ukrainian people but we need to understand reasons why it got to this. We have to have courage to at least ask questions without it being assumed that we therefore agree or are giving credence to the “enemy’s” philosophy/ approach.

However I have to recognise that some people only see situations in a binary, black and white, right and wrong way! And that tends to make dialogue and debate difficult.

In my day you could never discuss justice for white peoples in South Africa because it suggested you supported apartheid. Similarly trying to discuss the atrocious treatment of Irish people in the potato famine years means to the Protestant folk that you were in favour of IRA. Or in church an attempt to discuss Gay issues = abandonment of what the Bible says.

The list is endless. But let’s keep aiming for honest and courageous debate. Keep reflecting and writing to stimulate others of us whose brains function at a slower pace!

God bless you. Pete. 🙏🙏

Nick Wright

12/3/2022 07:40:48 pm

Hi Pete and thank you for such encouraging feedback. Yes, indeed. It's difficult to speak and to be and feel heard when passions are running so high in the midst of very real and disastrous humanitarian crisis.

'We need to understand reasons why it got to this' I agree, absolutely. This conflict didn't appear out of a vacuum. If we can try hard to listen, hear and make sense of what's happening, we may have a glimmer of hope to stop the war - and learn for the future.

The polarising tendency you referred to can be particularly problematic for establishing and sustaining dialogue. If I question NATO, I'm quickly accused of supporting Putin. If I question the EU, I'm quickly accused of being nationalistic. It's the same leaping-to-conclusions that fuels conflict.

I agree - let's try to keep the open conversations going. It's one small way to help us avoid sliding into anything like the oppressive, silencing, police state that Putin has gradually established in Russia. God bless you too, Pete.

Precious

12/3/2022 09:07:07 pm

Hi Nick. Still, it’s not enough of a reason to invade Ukraine. Whatever reason Russia may have had, war is NOT the solution. I pity the Russian people because of Putin’s decision. They thought they could freely interact with the world but for now they are back in isolation. I pray they will renounce Putin.

Nick Wright

12/3/2022 09:10:19 pm

Hi Precious. I agree. The war is unjustified and self-defeating and will inflict damage and suffering on the Russian people, as well as on the people of Ukraine and, by extension, those of its wider neighbours. Let's pray for a peaceful and sustainable solution to this conflict - and as soon as possible.

Peter Young

13/3/2022 11:23:51 am

Thanks Nick for your courage to speak out about the bias present in our media and political system.

My question is why didn't we hear voices like yours before it resulted in a full blown war? When we could have taken more constructive action?

I can only assume it came down to greed and political expediency.

Nick Wright

14/3/2022 08:50:39 am

Hi Peter. Thank you for such heart-warming feedback. To be honest, I don't always feel very courageous.

My impression is that some people have been sounding the alarm for some years now and, for whatever reason - which could be arrogance, self-interest - I don't know - those voices have been repeatedly ignored.

I read a thought-provoking reflective piece by Otto Scharmer yesterday evening that may be of interest?

https://medium.com/presencing-institute-blog/putin-and-the-power-of-collective-action-from-shared-awareness-a-12-point-meditation-2df81cd54b1e.

A couple of my own short recent related reflections may resonate too?

*Dare to question: https://www.nick-wright.com/blog/dare-to-question

*Think: https://www.nick-wright.com/blog/think5843248

Peter Young

14/3/2022 08:51:16 am

Thanks Nick, especially for the link to Otto Scharmer's thoughtful post.

Nick Wright

14/3/2022 08:53:30 am

Hi Peter. You're welcome. Interestingly, I had a vivid dream last night in which I was sitting in an auditorium. The woman speaker on the platform spoke and said, quite simply: 'The best time to stop a war is before it starts.' Indeed.

Tara Parker link

14/3/2022 05:38:28 pm

Nick,

Your first question asks why the media would only offer one side of a painful situation. My answer to that would be that society needs a “right” and a “wrong” side. This is due to the unspoken relationship between fundamental teachings of our homes and rudimentary education. Fairy-tales, Disney, Hollywood, and the mainstream media all offer the same concept: when there is a conflict it is always “good guy” vs “bad guy”. We are groomed from early on to determine the hero and the villain and root accordingly. From there, society will dictate the flavor of the narrative and the story spins in that direction until the story is no longer exciting to the audience - that is to say society.

Society is under the impression it needs a hero to believe in and the media will deliver that hero. The problem is that sometimes, there is no hero at which point the lesser of the two evils will be the point of the story.

In the end, society could tell the media to report fair but then, what would we all talk about? Who would we give prayer and charity to? How would anyone know who to support if a hero is not spotlighted?

Tara Parker

Nick Wright

14/3/2022 07:24:07 pm

Hi Tara. Thank you for sharing such great insights. Yes, the stories we hear from childhood can condition us to view the different parties in any relationship in polarised terms - as good vs bad; heroes vs villains. It's often a reductionist way of viewing people, relationships and situations, yet nevertheless helps to simplify complex realities that could otherwise feel overwhelming.

If I can conceive of you as the villain and myself as the hero in absolute terms, it conveniently absolves me of any responsibility for your behaviour. You behave like a villain because of some intrinsic villainous quality in you. It's nothing to do with me. It helps me to feel justified in what I think and do and helps me to feel good about myself. The consequences at geopolitical levels can be terrifying.

(This short article on this theme at an interpersonal may be of interest: https://www.harleytherapy.co.uk/counselling/why-we-put-the-blame-on-others.htm)

I really liked your comment that 'the story spins in that direction until the story is no longer exciting to the audience.' I believe that so-called news is always a combination of information, entertainment and propaganda. Information is provided selectively; a polarised narrative appeals to our desire for drama; a story is presented in such a way as to convince us of some stance or other.