Following his meeting with Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump said over the weekend that Ukraine has “got to make a deal” because “Russia is a very big power, and they’re not.” Leaked details of his post-summit call with European leaders suggest that he would back a plan for Ukraine to cede the Donbas region to Russia.
Redrawing lines on a map may be a transaction to Trump, but for many Europeans, this will reopen the barely healed wounds of the continent’s bloodiest conflicts. Redrawing borders, especially by force, challenges the very foundation of the post-World War II order, an order built on territorial integrity, peaceful coexistence, and the rejection of war as politics by other means.
German history offers a cautionary tale. In the 20th century, Germany’s borders changed dramatically multiple times – each shift carrying enormous human and political cost. After the First World War, the Treaty of Versailles imposed severe territorial losses on Germany, particularly in the East, where the Polish Corridor severed East Prussia from the rest of the country, and parts of Silesia and Posen were ceded to the newly reconstituted Polish state. These changes caused resentments that aided the rise of extremist politics and the eventual ascent of Adolf Hitler.
Following his meeting with Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump said over the weekend that Ukraine has “got to make a deal” because “Russia is a very big power, and they’re not.” Leaked details of his post-summit call with European leaders suggest that he would back a plan for Ukraine to cede the Donbas region to Russia.
Redrawing lines on a map may be a transaction to Trump, but for many Europeans, this will reopen the barely healed wounds of the continent’s bloodiest conflicts. Redrawing borders, especially by force, challenges the very foundation of the post-World War II order, an order built on territorial integrity, peaceful coexistence, and the rejection of war as politics by other means.
German history offers a cautionary tale. In the 20th century, Germany’s borders changed dramatically multiple times – each shift carrying enormous human and political cost. After the First World War, the Treaty of Versailles imposed severe territorial losses on Germany, particularly in the East, where the Polish Corridor severed East Prussia from the rest of the country, and parts of Silesia and Posen were ceded to the newly reconstituted Polish state. These changes caused resentments that aided the rise of extremist politics and the eventual ascent of Adolf Hitler.