Jeffrey Sachs: The Geopolitics Of Peace

Professor Jeffrey Sachs delivered a speech at the European Parliament event "The Geopolitics of Peace" where he shared his understanding of the events that have befallen Europe, particularly the Ukraine crisis, and the role of US foreign policy in these events. Sachs has closely followed the events in Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, Russia, and Ukraine for the last 36 years, having worked as an adviser to various governments and leaders. He emphasized that his views are based on firsthand experience and knowledge, not ideology or second-hand information. Sachs argued that the US has led and caused wars in various parts of the world, including the Middle East and Africa, due to its misguided foreign policy. He recalled that in 1991, he proposed financial help for Gorbachev's Soviet Union, but the US government dismissed the idea, deciding to do the minimum to prevent disaster. Sachs stated that the US has been pursuing a policy of unipolarity since the end of the Soviet Union, with the goal of expanding NATO eastward and establishing a US-dominated world order. He noted that the US decision to expand NATO eastward was made in 1994, despite a commitment made to Gorbachev in 1990 that NATO would not move eastward. Sachs also discussed the role of US strategists, such as Zbigniew Brzezinski, in shaping US foreign policy, and how their views have often been misguided and led to conflict. He concluded that the US project to expand NATO eastward has been a 30-year project, with Ukraine and Georgia being key components, and that this project has been driven by a desire to surround and contain Russia.