The Ukraine War: Echoes of WWI and Sarajevo (#264, 11 Nov. 2024)

On Veteran's Day, we remember the World War I, the War to End All Wars. For an excellent read on this topic, read A World Undone by BJ Meyer. In this episode, I reflect on Veterans Day and the historical significance of World War I, drawing parallels to the current Ukraine war. In particular, I explore the question: is Ukraine War more like the events following the Sarajevo Crisis of 1914 or the Munich Crisis of 1938? I argue the former. In my view, the current geopolitical landscape resembles the prelude to World War I more than World War II, emphasizing the dangers of miscalculation and the aggressive posturing of smaller states backed by larger powers. RockneCast know that I have been beating this drum for quite some time now, but for good reason. Our leaders have cited the Munich Crisis as a reason to risk war with Russia. It's precisely the wrong lesson and nearly led us to WWIII. Let's hope that our future leaders remember both the lessons of WWI and WWII. Unfortunately, leaders like Anthony Blinken, John Bolton, and Victoria Nuland have demonstrated a level of ignorance that would make a history undergraduate blush and nearly resulted in world ending catastrophe.