Table Of Content

“Careful, informed, judicious … an invaluable guide” —Noam Chomsky “Here, finally, is the book we’ve been awaiting. War in Ukraine is illuminating and essential for anyone seeking to W A R I N penetrate the fog of myth and propaganda that distorts our understanding of this crisis.” W —STEPHEN KINZER, AUTHOR AND JOURNALIST A U K R A I N E “An important antidote to the war propaganda about Ukraine R that so many in the West are caught up in.” I N —MAIREAD MCGUIRE, ACTIVIST AND WINNER OF THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE U K “Makes tragically clear that this was a conflict that could have R been avoided if our foreign policy had not become captive to A militarists whose sole loyalty is to the arms industry.” I MAKING N —CHRIS HEDGES, AUTHOR AND JOURNALIST E SENSE OF A “Given corporate media’s pro-war bias, a book like this, SENSELESS which provides important political and historical context and B argues for negotiations instead of escalation, is of utmost CONFLICT E N importance.” J A —KATIE HALPER, HOST OF THE KATIE HALPER SHOW AND USEFUL IDIOTS M I N “Give this book to anyone seeking the knowledge and wisdom & needed to help end the violence in Ukraine.” D A —DAVID SWANSON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF WORLD BEYOND WAR V I E “This concise primer gives what U.S. media consumers so rarely S get—historical context with balance and compassion.” —NORMAN SOLOMON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC ACCURACY MEDEA BENJAMIN & ISBN 9781682193716 90000 > OR Books NICOLAS J. S. DAVIES www.orbooks.com Cover photo by Wilfried Pohnke via pixabay.com 9781682 193716 Cover design by Antara Ghosh PREFACE BY KATRINA VANDEN HEUVEL “Careful, informed, judicious … an invaluable guide” —Noam Chomsky “Here, finally, is the book we’ve been awaiting. War in Ukraine is illuminating and essential for anyone seeking to W A R I N penetrate the fog of myth and propaganda that distorts our understanding of this crisis.” W —STEPHEN KINZER, AUTHOR AND JOURNALIST A U K R A I N E “An important antidote to the war propaganda about Ukraine R that so many in the West are caught up in.” I N —MAIREAD MCGUIRE, ACTIVIST AND WINNER OF THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE U K “Makes tragically clear that this was a conflict that could have R been avoided if our foreign policy had not become captive to A militarists whose sole loyalty is to the arms industry.” I MAKING N —CHRIS HEDGES, AUTHOR AND JOURNALIST E SENSE OF A “Given corporate media’s pro-war bias, a book like this, SENSELESS which provides important political and historical context and B argues for negotiations instead of escalation, is of utmost CONFLICT E N importance.” J A —KATIE HALPER, HOST OF THE KATIE HALPER SHOW AND USEFUL IDIOTS M I N “Give this book to anyone seeking the knowledge and wisdom & needed to help end the violence in Ukraine.” D A —DAVID SWANSON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF WORLD BEYOND WAR V I E “This concise primer gives what U.S. media consumers so rarely S get—historical context with balance and compassion.” —NORMAN SOLOMON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC ACCURACY MEDEA BENJAMIN & ISBN 9781682193716 90000 > OR Books NICOLAS J. S. DAVIES www.orbooks.com Cover photo by Wilfried Pohnke via pixabay.com 9781682 193716 Cover design by Antara Ghosh PREFACE BY KATRINA VANDEN HEUVEL WAR IN UKRAINE WAR IN UKRAINE MAKING SENSE OF A SENSELESS CONFLICT MEDEA BENJAMIN AND NICOLAS J.S. DAVIES OR Books New York • London © 2022 Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J.S. Davies Published by OR Books, New York and London Visit our website at www.orbooks.com All rights information: [email protected] All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher, except brief passages for review purposes. First printing 2022 Cataloging- in- Publication data is available from the Library of Congress. A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. Typeset by Lapiz Digital Services. paperback ISBN 978- 1- 68219- 3 71- 6 • ebook ISBN 978- 1- 68219- 3 73- 0 CONTENTS Maps 1 Preface—K atrina vanden Heuvel 3 Introduction: Collision Course 11 1. How 2014 Set the Stage for War 23 2. The Success and Failure of the Minsk II Peace Plan 51 3. The Russian Invasion of Ukraine 69 4. NATO: Myth vs. Reality 97 5. Information Warfare 117 6. The Consequences of Western Sanctions on Russia 145 7. Flirting with Nuclear War 165 Conclusion: How on Earth Will This End? 177 Acknowledgments 183 Acronyms 187 About the Authors 189 Ukraine, its major cities, and surrounding areas. Detail of the Donbas region.