Too Big to Live in Peace: The Role of Superpowers in Ukraine

What is it about?

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is only the latest example of superpowers violating or disrespecting international norms of behavior. In this paper, I discuss how the invasion of Ukraine illustrates the impact of superpower rivalry in starting and continuing the war, and how a superpower can get away with nuclear blackmail and with indiscriminate attacks on civilians without repercussions. By superpowers, I refer to states that cannot be restrained by another state or by a coalition of states, and these are not limited to those today that possess weapons of mass destruction. The existence of superpowers in the past and present gives the lie to the idea that relations between nations are akin to Hobbes’s state of nature where “the weakest has strength enough to kill the strongest, either by secret machination, or by confederacy with others.” I argue that in a world with superpowers, it is nearly impossible for nations to adhere to the just war principles that place moral constraints on the use of military force against other nations. It is not only through bad actors that war continues to plague humanity. Just war theory and international law were developed for an ideal world very different from how superpowers relate to other nations throughout history. Thus, the threat to peace is structural and not attributable to individual leaders and soldiers who are unjust. Global peace is unachievable not because the world is divided into nation-states that have self-interests that conflict, but because some states are too big to live in peace.

Featured Image

Photo by Nicolas J Leclercq on Unsplash

Photo by Nicolas J Leclercq on Unsplash

Why is it important?

As illustrated by the Ukraine War, the existence of superpowers challenges just war theory which has been used as the foundation for international law and ethical norms of behavior in war. Recognizing this challenge helps us to understand why global peace remains unachievable.