Jeffrey Sachs delivers a stark warning against the drive toward war with Russia and China. Europeâs political leadership is sacrificing peace, sovereignty, and economic development to preserve a collapsing geopolitical order. From Ukraine to Iran, the refusal to challenge military escalation threatens humanity with catastrophe. The alternative is diplomacy among sovereign nations, grounded in mutual security and economic cooperation.
âStop trying to force Russia into a âhumiliating defeat.â Above all, avoid that because that is a death wish. You want some stupid American general saying, âWe could take Kaliningrad, no problem.â And then when Putin says, âWeâll use all means to defend it.â Then having all these stupid pundits saying, âOh, heâs just bluffing.â Iâm so sick of these pundits. Is the idea really humiliation?
So, what is this arming to go to war with Russia? They have 1,600 actively deployed nuclear weapons. Are you kidding? What are you thinking? Europe is not standing up for Ukraine. Europe is killing Ukraine. This is not about a ceasefire. This is about a European politician standing up and saying, âMr. Putin, NATO will not enlarge to Ukraine or to Georgia. Now, letâs stop the war.â Sit down and talk.
We are nearly at war with China. Why? Because China has grown up again. In fact, they have an unbelievable temerity to have a larger economy than the United States. How dare they threaten American hegemony? This is insane. How many wars do we need in this world?
And by the way, I didnât hear Europe speak a murmur about Americaâs attack on Iran. That is a brazen, murderous violation of every single international standard we have. The day of the attack, the Security Council met that afternoon. And I was asked to testify. And I sat there in growing absolute shock. The Bahraini ambassador was the first to open the meeting and said, âWe are meeting here today to condemn the unprovoked attack by Iran on Bahrain.â Okay, I thought, âThatâs a little weird. Unprovoked?â But it went on the whole session this way. The French ambassador, the British ambassador, the Greek ambassador, nobody in Europe said the United States should not have started a war against Iran.
My view is there is no reason for a war with Russia. There is no reason for a war with China. Thereâs no reason for a genocide in Gaza. For Godâs sake, honestly, I love Europe, but not this political leadership right now. I donât understand it.â
Humanity cannot survive a geopolitical order built on imperial hegemony and permanent war. The alternative is dialogue among sovereign nations, mutual security, and cooperation for peace and economic development rather than nuclear catastrophe.