Neutrality is the formal term used for a state that chooses not to go war when other countries do. This research highlights the many ways in which governments and communities approach wars in which they're not actively involved as belligerents. My most recent (co-authored) title, Global War, Global Catastrophe, integrates the history of neutrals and non-belligerents into the global history of the first world war. I've written several books about neutrality, peacemaking and avoiding war. I've spent much of my academic career studying international systems and great power diplomacy, particularly in time of war. Is watching in horror as the war unfolds all we can do? What responsibilities do we have as non-belligerent “neutrals”? ![]() In that sense, Toro's cartoon is apposite, especially when it comes to interrogating our collective responsibility for the war in Ukraine and its victims. There is nothing to be gained from equating Putin with Hitler or likening Russia's invasion of Ukraine with Germany's invasion of Poland in 1939.īut what is useful in studying past wars is that they help us understand what aspects of a current crisis might be worth asking critical questions about I find many of the historical analogies being bandied about over the war in Ukraine banal. ![]() Context changes everything – and the complexities of context are as important to understanding an event as the potential similarities with another moment in time. As a historian, I don't much subscribe to the histoire se répète (history repeats itself) school of thought.
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