Jeff McMahan on Putin's war against Ukraine: 'this is a warning to us all'

Jeff McMahan is Sekyra and White’s Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Oxford and a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Oxford Uehiro Centre.

In this interview we asked Jeff to help us understand the situation in Ukraine from the perspective of just war. For Jeff, there is no justification for Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the only aim of this war is to expand Russian power and control. Jeff talked about the responsibilities of democracies and Russian citizens for the ongoing Russian aggression against Ukraine, the economic sanctions imposed on Russia and the military aid offered to Ukraine, the use of high-tech weapons and whether they change the ethics of war and many other important topics that can help us better grasp the implications of the Russian war against Ukraine. In the end, Jeff explained what moral lessons we can draw from this conflict.

[michaelbailey]

Thank you for posting this excellent piece

[JohnThomas]

Such a clear, persuasive and important analysis!

[dwl]

How do you know that Ukraine wasn't a threat to Russia? What makes you so sure?

[Cy]

13K people killed in the Donbas region for a start.

[lucasfahl]

"it astonishes me that ordinary Russian soldiers are obeying orders the way they are it's a very very sad reflection about human nature. How can't they believe that they're not just going to harm and kill innocent people?' I ask myself how can a professor who writes extensively about war and morals be so shallow minded.
It baffles me how quickly Mr. McMahan jumped to conclusions about the objectives of the "40 miles tank convoy", how inherit inhumane they were and how can Russian soldier obey they're orders... How can a soldier do what he is supposed to do, follow orders without knowledge of the big picture? Please Mr. McMahan, tell me, from your comfortable chair located in the most violent, evil, war minded, and unjust - nationally and abroad - country in the world, do you use the same metrical system you use to measure Russians soldiers moral value on the Estadunidense military personnel actions nationally and abroad? If you do, what do you expect of them? There are examples in recent history of Estadunidense troops refusing to follow criminal orders on the basis of "its not moral"? I know that there are plenty of examples of criminal orders but I can't remember any case of insubordination among US military on the bases of morals... Come on Doc, you know better and your astonishment sounds a lot like crocodile tears to me... Well... Maybe you don't know better, propaganda and ideology are thing that go really deep.
Anyway, there is a lot to talk about about what you say on this video, your "lecture" - or "interview" I don't really know what this is -, to me, is nothing but a pathetic attempt to - based on a very weak moralism - (1) stablish a moral high ground on wich any argument and action that comes from Russia is viewed as criminal due to the barbaric and brutal way it is proceeded. (2) Justify, romanticize and minimize the inhumane, criminal, and brutal actions took by the US and its partners (Ukraine included) in the past, present and sadly the future.

Gringo, the world don't buy your one sided morals and ethics, the world don't buy your pseudo humane BS anymore.

[JCResDoc]

без причини?Я думаю, неспровоковані DSS і ЦРУ (і так, нацистські - небагато), що здійснюють переворот.розширення НАТО.війна погана, але неспровокована, у світовому масштабі: погано.І калічити російський економ? Це шкодить світу. Путін не відновлює СРСР.Це західна нісенітниця. Всі олігархи в Росії разом узяті менше, ніж Безос, Гейтс і Маск.Менше половини "Амазонки". Чудовий відео.
-JC