Abstract
The military crisis in Ukraine that began with the invasion of Russia on February 24, 2022 and the violation of many international principles of military conflict by the Russian Army, together with the energetic reshuffling of Western European countries against this well-armed rogue state have brought back the importance of geopolitics in a way almost as intense as during the Cold War. UN principles such as R2P (“responsibility to protect”) or Western promises to reduce carbon emissions have appeared empty when the military concern to avoid a larger scale conflict was embraced by many NATO allies as a priority. Furthermore, the energy dependence of some Western countries like Germany on the Russian gas imports by ignoring geostrategic realities has proven a liability, given the obvious Russian expansionism and its military and political efforts to destabilize the international order. This paper will try to propose a balance between high-minded international moral principles and geopolitical realism, with the aim to suggest ways in which institutions that adopt such norms and principles cannot be blocked by the political “inclusion” of actors that do not adhere to them. The UN Security Council, for example, should not have permanent members that violate human rights and international laws. Climate projects to reduce carbon emissions should take into account more variables than economy and environment, while not relying on a rather utopian peaceful cooperation between countries like Russia or China and Western and Central European states.