Explaining events and analyzing things through abstract concepts instead of causal relationships. Russia does not want NATO forces in Ukraine for very pragmatic cause-effect reasons. Arguing that Russia does not get a say because Ukraine is not Russia is using the abstract concept of national borders to explain why Russia gets no say and and ignoring the very real causal framework of lethal force and national security and how that very real causal framework inherently makes Russia an involved party.
The reason Australia couldn’t say they don’t want NATO forces in Ukraine is because Australia has no causal relationships to nuclear combat-ready forces trained against Russia in Ukraine. But Russia clearly is casually linked to the existence of such forces on its border. Equivalently, Saudi Arabia has no say in whether Russia puts a nuclear combat-ready forces in New Zealand, but Australia would certainly be casually implicated.
Whether you build an international set of norms that defines who has a day based on abstract concepts is irrelevant when it comes to certain material conditions, like national security. No military is going to allow you to build up a material threat just because you drew a border and made some arbitrary rules amongst yourselves. That military must and will act in its own defense - a quintessential example of materialism. Saying “No, you can’t do that because that’s against the rules” is a quintessential example of idealism.
I’m curious. What do you mean by “idealist”?
Explaining events and analyzing things through abstract concepts instead of causal relationships. Russia does not want NATO forces in Ukraine for very pragmatic cause-effect reasons. Arguing that Russia does not get a say because Ukraine is not Russia is using the abstract concept of national borders to explain why Russia gets no say and and ignoring the very real causal framework of lethal force and national security and how that very real causal framework inherently makes Russia an involved party.
The reason Australia couldn’t say they don’t want NATO forces in Ukraine is because Australia has no causal relationships to nuclear combat-ready forces trained against Russia in Ukraine. But Russia clearly is casually linked to the existence of such forces on its border. Equivalently, Saudi Arabia has no say in whether Russia puts a nuclear combat-ready forces in New Zealand, but Australia would certainly be casually implicated.
Whether you build an international set of norms that defines who has a day based on abstract concepts is irrelevant when it comes to certain material conditions, like national security. No military is going to allow you to build up a material threat just because you drew a border and made some arbitrary rules amongst yourselves. That military must and will act in its own defense - a quintessential example of materialism. Saying “No, you can’t do that because that’s against the rules” is a quintessential example of idealism.