After Vladimir Zelensky s disastrous meeting at the White House last week, every liberal pundit rushed to announce the impending collapse of the rules-based international order. Delusional commentators explained that any Ukrainian peace deal which acknowledged Zelenski s intransigence would signal the end of international law and national sovereignty.
00:00:30.220After Vladimir Zelensky's disastrous meeting at the White House last week,
00:00:34.460every progressive pundit rushed to announce the impending collapse of the rules-based international order.
00:00:40.640Delusional commentators explained that any Ukrainian peace negotiation
00:00:44.580which acknowledged Zelensky's intransigence would signal the end of international law and national sovereignty.
00:00:52.280The assumption there is that international law is some kind of higher power to which countries can appeal
00:00:58.180and which the United States is bound to maintain.
00:01:01.840In truth, international law and the supranational bodies that theoretically maintain it are not guarantors of national sovereignty.
00:01:10.280They're actually the forces that will most likely destroy it.
00:01:13.620Sovereignty is defined as wielding supreme power.
00:01:18.200Having the ability to make the final decision on any given issue.
00:01:22.840Sovereign entities will consider the interests of other parties and even the limits of their ability to project power beyond their own borders.
00:01:30.240But ultimately, a sovereign power is one that can make the final decision on its own.
00:01:36.700A sovereign nation doesn't need to check with other nations,
00:01:39.900and it doesn't need to appeal to a higher international body to validate its decisions.
00:01:44.700If a leader is appealing to an outside body to establish the sovereign rights of their nation,
00:01:50.120then they've misunderstood the meaning of that term.
00:01:53.220The political philosopher Thomas Hobbes grounded the principle of sovereignty in the state's ability to protect the people that it governs.
00:02:02.120A state that couldn't protect its own citizens or borders could not, by definition, be sovereign.
00:02:09.320No nation can last long without protection from hostile forces.
00:02:13.840So if the people of a nation aren't able to provide for their own defense,
00:02:17.520another political entity will assume protective duties and therefore achieve sovereignty.
00:02:24.160Carl Schmitt echoed Hobbes' sentiment when he wrote,
00:02:26.960If a people is afraid of the trials and risks implied by existing in the sphere of politics,
00:02:35.060then another people will appear that will assume these trials by protecting it against foreign enemies and thereby taking over political rule.
00:02:44.320The protector then decides who the enemy is by virtue of the eternal relation of protection and obedience.
00:05:04.960Previous US administrations have encouraged and facilitated the demilitarization of Europe while pledging to defend those nations with our own blood and treasure.
00:05:14.460This alliance may have played a critical role in stopping the spread of communism when Europe was weakened by two consecutive world wars,
00:05:21.540but having outlived its original purpose, it only serves to distort the reality of sovereignty in the modern day.
00:05:28.180Officially, Zelensky is the president of an independent nation involved in a war of territory with a great world power.
00:05:36.920In reality, the United States and its NATO allies are funding a proxy war with Russia.
00:05:42.900Zelensky should have a great deal of authority,
00:05:45.880but everyone knows that the real peace negotiations are occurring between Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
00:05:53.480If the United States continues to fund the war, it could drag it on for years.
00:05:57.880And if we withdraw financial and military aid, the conflict would be over tomorrow.
00:06:04.160Ukraine can't defend itself, so it ultimately is unable to become the master of its own fate.