Putin's Wars and NATO's Flaws: Why Russia Invaded Ukraine

by Paul Moorcraft

This book explores why there is a major war again in Europe. Putin’s actions need to be understood if not forgiven. With the Ukraine conflict increasingly seen as a proxy war of NATO versus Russia, how likely is the fighting to spread?

The author, a highly respected journalist and political commentator, explains why Russia invaded a sovereign neighbor. To what extent did NATO’s expansion to Russia’s borders in the aftermath of the Cold War provoke Putin? Did the West’s recent humiliating defeats in the Middle East and South Asia encourage Putin to exploit what he saw as its decadent strategic weakness and lack of resolve? What were the reasons for Russia’s savage behavior in Ukraine? How might the Ukraine war end and what will the post-bellum world look like?

The war in Ukraine has had worldwide impact with cost of living, food and energy crises and raised the risk of nuclear Armageddon by accident or intent so this book has universal appeal; not just to military buffs. It examines the complex military and political issues in layman’s language while the story is told as a compelling historical narrative.

Professor Moorcraft, who has worked in Ukraine and has witnessed Russian troops in action in Afghanistan and other theaters, is superbly qualified to write this work.

Genres: War, Politics

224 pages, Hardcover

Published January 6, 2024

Reviews

[Balazs · Rating 1 out of 5]

A long-form FP article. Lacks the green-field novelty of investigative journalism, and the depth, rigour and evidentiary support of academic works. Overall the general framework and narrative is fairly balanced, but for the above reasons lacks credibility. Overall, not worth one's time.

[Cymraes Gwyntog · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like your reading restricted to simple tales of good guys versus bad guys where the big bad wolf (in this case the big bad bear) gets its comeuppance and is finally destroyed by the underdogs, then this is not the book for you. If, however, you like a grown-up challenge which will enlighten your thinking that, in the real world, there are causes and consequences, then I encourage you to read on. This book will open your mind to the geography, the history and the impact these have on the cultural conditioning of the Russian people, their fears as well as their colonial ambitions and ruthlessness; it invites you to come to your own conclusions which is surely something that the "free" world should encourage.
Greater understanding of both sides of any conflict are essential if we are to call a halt to them.
I believe Professor Moorcraft has nearly finished his next book which deals with the Israel/Gaza war and I look forward to learning much from a similarly well-balanced discussion of the causes and effects from both sides of this latest world conflict.

[Martin Koenigsberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is an interesting discussion of the present mess in Eastern Europe- but I'm not sure I agree with all the author's assumptions, nor many of his conclusions. Paul Moorcroft is a prolific author and academic- from a base in Journalism and a recent focus on conflict history. He's trying to lay out the case for all sides of the Ukrainian War of Independence matrix- and then trying to discern which way the wind will blow. He does an okay job with the explanation phase -but loses me when he keeps coming up with crappy scenarios for Ukraine's future. It's interesting and thought provoking, but I found it overly defeatist and limited in its vision.

NATO's eastward expansion might look threatening to the Kremlin- until you view it through a lens of invitations sent by former members of the Warsaw Pact who actively wanted to be seen crossing the aisle. Moorcroft discounts the legitimate concerns all the former Soviet Russian Empire member states have . They've seen Russian hegemony, and they want none of it. If that annoys a rampant ultranationalist sadist like Putin- then so be it. Moorcroft is in the "Let's cut our losses' camp all too easily. Even with the fluid situation on the ground recently, I think there are more twists and turns to this tale- and far too early for a limited solution to this struggle. Still I think the framing of the situation and airing of possible outcomes does make this book interesting for many readers.

There are a lot of adult themes in this book- mostly political and falsehoods, so this is a book for the Junior Reader over about 12/13 years. For the Gamer/Modeler/Military Enthusiast, this book is not that useful. Moorcroft is arguing about reasons for going to war- not very much about the methods of those wars. This book is about political ideas, concepts and constructs- not about moves on a map or the gear that make those moves. The Military Enthusiast may understand the motivations of the Russian Federation and its leader, Putin, but they won't understand his strategies or tactics better after reading this book. An interesting read- but not a requirement in understanding the present Ukrainian War of Independence.

[Coffee & books · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is russian propaganda, in its purest form.

NATO expansion to russia’s borders provoked Putin? - Well, if so, why did russia removed almost all its army from the border with Finland and moved it to Ukraine?
Also, attacking a country because someone was provoked is a rather strange idea. It enables the aggressor.

The reason for attacking Ukraine are very clear - a genocide - this was told by Putin and by many of russian propagandists in their TV shows.

To understand russia's imperialism and Ukraine's resistance read books such as The Gates of Europe by Serhii Plokhy and books by Timothy Snyder (such as Bloodlands).

[RUINISM · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was kinda following the book's logic until it insinuated, without any historical subtlety, that the Baltic states were some sort of Nazi admirers. Utter fool. Dear author, these people were between a rock and a hard place; the communist rule had been nothing short of inhumane, and some people flung to the other side out of sheer desperation -- for there were no other options.

[Simon Gibson · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent, well balanced overview of the Russian v Ukraine war and the reasons it started. Packed with common sense opinion based on factual information, not propaganda or conspiracy theories.

[sumo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting appendices

[Tom Foley · Rating 3 out of 5]

It felt like far too much blame was placed on NATO for RUS's invasion of UKR...

NATO was invited into the East by nations who knew Russia's history and how it treated it's "allies." To suggest this expansion justified the invasion of Ukraine is as close to victim-blaming as one can get.