Something similar is happening right now. If you caution against escalating the current conflict in Eastern Europe, you can expect to be accused of being an ardent apologist for Vladimir Putin. They will say you don't care about women and dead children. They will condemn you as 'unamerican'.  It’s quick, it requires very little thought, and it feels good. It also lights up the likes on Facebook! Make no mistake about it, this war is being driven by social media, exactly as was Covid.

The same people who told us to mask up, follow the science, and get vaccinated are now demanding that we “stand with Ukraine” even though nine out of ten of us couldn’t find it on a map and wouldn't know Zelensky from a zebra.

Incredibly, many are now calling for the United States to enforce a no-fly zone over Ukraine, so traumatized are they by the pictures of war on TV. Granted, war is hell; but if we start enforcing that no-fly zone by shooting down MIGs, the whole world will descend into hell on earth.

I am not defending Vladimir Putin, therefore when I say:  Please, slow down!

There are two sides to every conflict, and at the moment we're only getting one.  Doesn’t it seem odd that in the age of the Internet there’s a media blackout on the Russian side of this fiasco?  Zelensky’s out there every day on Fox and CNN telling us what’s up, and Putin is silent?  Why? 

On November 12, 2015, George Soros was awarded by Ukrainian's then-President, Petro Poroshenko, for helping to the establishment of a new, democratic, and European Ukraine. 

The war propaganda is so over the top now that many of are absolutely convinced we’re looking at a reincarnated Adolf Hitler in Russia trying to crush the good Christian king of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, solely because he’s a good Christian.  Well, he may be a good man but he’s certainly not Christian. Zelensky is the first Jewish president of Ukraine, even if he is non-religious, as are so many Christians and Jews who endured seven decades under the Soviet regime.  

So, it’s important to stop imagining today's Ukraine on the set of The Fiddler on the Roof.  It is a very progressive country, with an Obama-backed secularist government that has little  to do with old-world Ukrainian Christianity or indeed the Judaism of Anatevka.

Does this in itself justify Russia’s invasion? Of course not. But it may help some get beyond certain provincial notions of what this is all about.

To understand the conflict, we must understand modern Ukraine and the men who built it. And one of the men who built it is George Soros, the globalist godfather of the New World Order. 

On November 12, 2015, Soros received an award from the then-President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko. The award was in acknowledgement of Soros' personal contribution, and that of his International Renaissance Foundation, to the establishment of a "new, democratic, and European Ukraine." 

Once we understand the Globalist component to all this, perhaps our understanding of the conflict will become a bit more sophisticated. Perhaps we could even help lower (rather than elevate) the media-driven war fever which hurts everyone, including the Ukrainians on the ground.

One of those Ukrainians is Kateryna Smagliy, Counselor and Political Directorate of The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. She wrote the following letter back in 2015. In my opinion, it is more useful to those trying to grasp a better understanding of this conflict than almost anything seen on TV so far.

The letter makes it abundantly clear that over the past 20 years, Ukraine has been "reimagined and reset" according to the Globalist vision. And what does that mean? It seems we're about to find out. But let's not forget that in his speech at the 2018 World Economic Forum in Davos, George Soros told the world that Donald Trump would “disappear” in 2020: “I consider the Trump Administration a danger to the world. But it is a temporary phenomenon that will disappear in 2020.” (RTV’s “Davos and the Plot to Cancel Trump”)

Soros was indeed prophetic. And the question now is: Has he now turned on Putin for the same reason, the Russian President having lost interest in the New World Order, preferring instead to make his own nation “great again”?  Time will tell.

Either way, I respect the readers of this newspaper enough to let them make up their own minds. If you want to be told how to think about the Ukraine crisis, you need only turn on your TV. If you wish to draw your own conclusions, read on.

Pray for the Ukrainian families on the ground, pray for the Russian families that will be devastated by the sanctions, and pray for your own family. God knows where this will end, but unless and until cooler heads prevail, it seems unlikely that any of us will be spared the living hell of war.  MJM

In total, Soros has provided over $181 million in support of almost 17,000 civil society initiatives in Ukraine that were implemented by thousands of activists throughout the country.

Kateryna Smagliy's Letter: "Thank you, George!"

In his 2011 essay, “My Philanthropy,” George Soros described his approach to charitable giving. “I relish confronting harsh reality, and I am drawn to tackling seemingly insoluble problems,” he wrote. Indeed, it is with a consistent determination, generosity, and unwavering faith in Ukraine’s potential that Soros established the International Renaissance Foundation (IRF) twenty-five years ago as an independent member of his global Open Society Foundation network. It was the first step in what proved to be a long and ambitious journey toward a new Ukraine.

Since 1990, no other private donor—either domestic or international—has traveled a longer distance in helping Ukraine develop a market economy, accountable government, and independent media. Soros’ political and strategic philanthropy is an inspirational example of how one man’s vision and unflagging commitment to the open society ideal can change the lives of millions.

The Central European University (CEU), established by Soros in 1990, is also playing an important role in bringing Ukraine’s victory closer. Almost 50 percent of CEU’s 650 alumni from Ukraine serve in the government, international organizations, and academia.

In total, Soros has provided over $181 million in support of almost 17,000 civil society initiatives in Ukraine that were implemented by thousands of activists throughout the country. In times of post-Soviet chaos and socioeconomic turmoil, when former party apparatchiks-turned-businessmen were busy redistributing state wealth and property, Soros wasted no chance to provide assistance to the backbone of Ukraine’s society: schoolteachers, university professors, and independent scholars. His foundation quickly developed a reputation as a prominent intellectual hub and social innovation lab where new approaches to the country’s many challenges were both designed and tested.

There have been not only successes but also failures along the road. After the Orange Revolution, Ukraine’s civil society mistakenly presumed there would be no backsliding to authoritarianism. Activists spent too much time feeling exuberant and euphoric, instead of keeping the government of Viktor Yushchenko and Yulia Tymoshenko in check. Some experts argued that IRF and other foundations were disconnected with reality and only worked with a narrow circle of “traditional suspects,” or the so-called “NGO-cracy,” whose leaders were busy networking with Western embassies rather than engaging with citizens.

Soros provided an additional $3 million in support of eight strategic advisory groups within the National Reform Council, and its one hundred experts drafted eighty reform bills in education, healthcare, deregulation, energy security, decentralization, administrative reform, and e-governance.

When history gave Ukraine its second chance, there was no time to repeat past mistakes. IRF proved to be a flexible and quick decision-maker, uniquely well-positioned to mediate among numerous donors and civic groups at the Euromaidan.

IRF also mobilized the best talent to back up the post-Euromaidan reforms process. Soros provided an additional $3 million in support of eight strategic advisory groups within the National Reform Council, and its one hundred experts drafted eighty reform bills in education, healthcare, deregulation, energy security, decentralization, administrative reform, and e-governance. More than thirty of them have already been voted in by the parliament of Ukraine.

Soros has become one of the world’s most ardent advocates of the new Ukraine.

Moreover, Soros has become one of the world’s most ardent advocates of the new Ukraine. He has published prolifically in the international press, calling for a new Marshall Plan for Ukraine and urging EU and US leadership to “Save the New Ukraine” and “Keep the Spirit of the Maidan Alive.” He also invested $1 million in Ukraine’s economy and encouraged others to do so, despite high risks.

The Central European University (CEU), established by Soros in 1990, is also playing an important role in bringing Ukraine’s victory closer. Almost 50 percent of CEU’s 650 alumni from Ukraine serve in the government, international organizations, and academia.

As a shrewd businessman, Soros never looks at Ukraine through rose-colored lenses. He acknowledges that on closer look, the current domestic situation is not as promising as it might seem from a distance. The ruling coalition, he argues, has yet to “live up to the expectations of the public” and “reaffirm…commitment to the new Ukraine.”

It is high time to reflect on Soros’ philanthropy, acknowledge his numerous admirable achievements, and simply say “Thank you, George!”

Yet Soros is highly optimistic because Ukraine, he says, is “something of a miracle…made possible by people willing to sacrifice their lives for their country.” Based on his confidence in Ukraine’s future, he pledged last month to continue supporting IRF for the indefinite future, even after his lifetime.

And thus today, when Ukraine’s oligarchs are still busy redistributing wealth and stealing from their own people, it is high time to reflect on Soros’ philanthropy, acknowledge his numerous admirable achievements, and simply say “Thank you, George!”

Thank you, for your continuous crusade for the democratic future of a country that is not even your own. Thank you for your reassuring trust in Ukraine despite all odds. Thank you for your openness to new ideas and for opening those ideas to us.

Thank you, George. Together we are many!

This article originally appeared at AtlanticCouncil.org

Kateryna Smagliy is Counselor and Political Directorate of The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. At the time of writing this letter, she was the Director of the Kennan Institute’s Kyiv Office.

More on the Ukraine situation — THE ERRORS of GLOBALISM: Russia, Ukraine, and the Suicide of the West

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