2022
February
17
Thursday

Monitor Daily Podcast

February 17, 2022
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Peter Grier
Washington editor

“But let me be clear: I am here today not to start a war, but to prevent one.”

That’s what Secretary of State Antony Blinken said today in a surprise speech at the United Nations Security Council in New York. His dramatic appearance was meant to emphasize that the United States continues to believe that Russia has likely decided to invade Ukraine – and that such an invasion could occur within days.

“This is a moment of peril for the lives and safety of millions of people,” Secretary Blinken said.

His words were the latest American move in an increasingly bitter messaging exchange between Washington and Moscow. Russia insists that it is withdrawing troops from the area around Ukraine and is not planning an invasion. The U.S. says Russia is building up its armies, not withdrawing them, and is likely to attack following a manufactured pretext blamed on Ukrainian forces.

U.S. officials have declassified satellite photos and other intelligence detailing the Russian units that surround Ukraine on three sides. The strategy seems to be exposure, in that shining a light on Russia’s actions could deter it from actual war.

More broadly, the U.S. might be trying to convince European allies of the seriousness of a situation that seems increasingly reminiscent of the Cold War and could end in a Cold War-style containment policy against Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

It’s possible U.S. intelligence is wrong, as it was in 2003 when then-Secretary of State Colin Powell gave a U.N. speech claiming Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. After invading Iraq, U.S. troops didn’t find any.

But Secretary Blinken on Thursday said he’d be “relieved” if Russia doesn’t invade and proves American predictions wrong. 

“That would be a far better outcome than the course we’re currently on. And we will gladly accept any criticism that anyone directs at us,” he said.


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Today’s stories

And why we wrote them

David Zalubowski/AP
Customers move past a 2022 Cooper Clubman JCW model for sale on the floor of a Mini showroom on Aug. 21, 2021, in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. Car prices have staged a particularly sharp surge over the past year, as inflation in the wider economy becomes a top voter concern.

Inflation is an economic problem, and a major political problem. Is more presidential empathy enough? Our reporter looks at ways Democrats might respond. 

SOURCE:

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

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Jacob Turcotte/Staff

In a crisis, you turn to your friends for help. In Qatar, Washington has found a new ally that often shares U.S. values and priorities and acts as a hot spot mediator. 

SOURCE:

U.S. Department of State

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Jacob Turcotte/Staff

Patterns

Tracing global connections

The blockade in Canada may represent a tiny fringe of society, but it highlights the anger and exasperation shared by citizens worldwide. Our London columnist looks at possible responses.

Greg Eans/The Messenger-Inquirer/AP/File
Dan Humphrey, center, guides a roof truss into place as Larry Morris directs a crane operator while helping to build a Habitat for Humanity house on Jackson Street in Owensboro, Kentucky, on Nov. 23, 2021. Due largely to inflation, Habitat’s home completions in the U.S. have fallen by 15% since 2019.

Here’s another take on the high-inflation economy. Specifically, the unique challenges posed for nonprofits, offering services from housing to school supplies. Our reporter looks at how some are navigating new hardships.  

Difference-maker

Colette Davidson
Rhythmic gymnast Peterson Ceus trains at the Antony GR gym in Antony, France, on Dec. 20, 2021. Currently, France only recognizes women for elite competitions. Mr. Ceus aims to change that.

If women are excluded from a sport, it’s called discrimination. Should men be excluded from a “sport for women”? Our reporter looks at a Frenchman’s quest for equity.


The Monitor's View

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
Figurines with computers and smartphones are seen in this illustration with binary codes and the Russian flag.

According to officials in Ukraine, a large-scale attack on their country has already begun – only it is not a land invasion by Russia. On Feb. 15, the country experienced a cyberoffensive on the military and two banks that was the largest denial-of-service attack in Ukraine’s history. Yet just as noteworthy was how swiftly those vital institutions recovered – and how officials calmly told the public the real purpose of the attack.

“It is clear,” said Mykhailo Fedorov, minister of digital transformation in a televised briefing, “that ... the key goal of this attack is to destabilize, sow panic, do everything so that a certain chaos arises in our country.”

Preventing fear has become central to Ukraine’s strategy against Russia since early last year when the frequency of cyberattacks began to escalate. “The No. 1 task for Russia is to undermine us from inside,” Oleksiy Danilov, national security adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, told The Wall Street Journal.

Last month, President Zelenskyy called on President Joe Biden and other Western leaders to be careful about creating panic in Ukraine with their warnings about Russian troops amassed on the border. Russia, in other words, could achieve its goal of destabilizing Ukraine’s economy and government without a hot war.

Or as Mr. Zelenskyy told Ukrainians in an address: “It is not our land that is being actively attacked, but your nerves. So that you have a constant sense of anxiety. And also the emotions of investors and the business environment.”

Since Russia took Crimea in 2014 and backed an armed rebellion in Ukraine’s eastern region, the country has prepared itself for cyberattacks with the help of many countries in NATO. In the city of Lviv, for example, engineers have found ways to deliver drinking water without electricity, according to The Globe and Mail, and the city has generators that can run for months.

“Resilience is a trait Ukrainians have developed over the past seven years in the face of Russia’s overt and covert aggression,” according to the France 24 television network.

Russia’s war against Ukraine is not only soldiers and weapons, said Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal in a Facebook post. “It has many dimensions: the gas crisis in Europe, the destabilization of the hryvnia exchange rate, cyber-attacks, mass bomb hoaxes at infrastructure facilities, paid rallies, and pseudo-rallies. All these are elements of a hybrid war. And the most dangerous of them is disinformation and the fueling of panic.”

In a world where digital information travels quickly, said the prime minister, “panic sentiments are a gift to the enemy. Panic destroys states better than tanks and assault rifles.”

The government’s calls for calm appear to be working. Journalists report many Ukrainians going about their business while still quietly preparing for any sort of attack by Russia. For now, Moscow is losing on the mental war front. The only reason to panic, said President Zelenskyy in an echo of a famous quote by Franklin Roosevelt about fearing fear itself, could be if Ukrainians succumb to panic.


A Christian Science Perspective

About this feature

Each weekday, the Monitor includes one clearly labeled religious article offering spiritual insight on contemporary issues, including the news. The publication – in its various forms – is produced for anyone who cares about the progress of the human endeavor around the world and seeks news reported with compassion, intelligence, and an essentially constructive lens. For many, that caring has religious roots. For many, it does not. The Monitor has always embraced both audiences. The Monitor is owned by a church – The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston – whose founder was concerned with both the state of the world and the quality of available news.

If we’re feeling helpless in the face of problems that would draw us in, we can yield to the power of God, which empowers us to be and do good.


A message of love

Aleksandra Szmigiel/Reuters
After a controversial week in women’s skating, Anna Shcherbakova of the Russian Olympic Committee stunned by taking gold in the 2022 Beijing Olympics. Her teammate Alexandra Trusova won silver. Kaori Sakamoto of Japan won bronze. The 15-year-old at the center of doping allegations, Kamila Valieva, who had been favored to win, came in fourth.
( The illustrations in today’s Monitor Daily are by Karen Norris. )

A look ahead

Thanks for joining us. Come back tomorrow: We’re working on a story about how Ukrainian soldiers view the threat from Russia.

More issues

2022
February
17
Thursday

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