Philosopher Slawoy Žižek calls for providing Ukraine with nuclear weapons
28 November 16:38
The famous Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek has once again called on the West to provide Ukraine with nuclear weapons to deter Russian aggression. He believes that in a situation where the Kremlin is openly threatening a nuclear strike in response to Ukrainians using Western weapons, Ukraine has the right to receive the same tool to protect its sovereignty. Žižek wrote about this in the article “Should Ukraine have nuclear weapons?” on Project Syndicate, according to Komersant ukrainskyi
In his article, he argues that only such a step can effectively deter the threat from Russia, which, according to him, has violated all norms of international law and uses the new nuclear doctrine as a tool of blackmail.
The philosopher emphasizes that after Joe Biden’s administration allowed Ukraine to use ATACMS missiles to strike Russian territory, the Kremlin again threatened a nuclear strike. Žižek believes this is an obvious attempt at manipulation:
“Russia, having unleashed a war against its peaceful neighbor, now wants its own territory to remain outside the conflict, accusing Ukraine of expanding it.”
According to Žižek, the response to such blackmail should be tough:
“If an independent state is attacked by a nuclear superpower, its allies have the right-even the duty-to provide it with nuclear weapons to ensure deterrence.”
Russia as a neo-empire
The philosopher also examines the root causes of Russian aggression. He argues that Vladimir Putin is not seeking a return to the Soviet Union or Stalinism. Instead, his goal is to restore the pre-revolutionary empire where Russia dominated Poland, Finland, and other neighboring countries.
“This is not just a restoration of the old borders, but a desire to create a new empire where only Russia will have true sovereignty,”
– writes Žižek.
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The philosopher notes that such an imperial policy of Moscow poses a threat not only to Ukraine but also to the whole world, as it sets a dangerous precedent when a nuclear power can impose its will on its neighbors with impunity.
Criticizing double standards
Žižek draws attention to the absurdity of the situation when Russian bombing of Ukrainian cities is perceived by the world as something ordinary, while Ukraine’s strikes cause global panic.
“Six Ukrainian missiles caused panic around the world, but the systematic destruction of Ukrainian infrastructure by Russia is perceived as normal,”
– he emphasizes.
As a “leftist” philosopher, Žižek criticizes the Western left for supporting both Palestine and Russia, calling it unacceptable. Žižek draws parallels between the Kremlin’s actions and the policy of the Israeli right in Gaza:
“Just as Israel’s right-wing forces seek to create a ‘Greater Israel,’ the Kremlin is building its own version of a ‘Greater Russia.
Thus, Slavoj Žižek in his article poses a provocative but important question: can the world remain passive in a situation where Russia openly threatens a non-nuclear democratic state with a nuclear strike? In his opinion, the answers to this question should be radical, because only a strong reaction will be able to stop Putin’s imperial ambitions.
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Slavoj Žižek is a philosopher, cultural critic, and psychoanalyst of the Lacanian school from Slovenia. He considers himself a Marxist and a communist. He researches a wide range of topics: from pop culture, art house cinema and postmodernism to the Lacanian concepts of the Imaginary, Symbolic and Real. He is the author of the books Welcome to the Desert of the Real, 13 Experiments on Lenin, Everything You Wanted to Know About Lacan… but Were Afraid to Ask Hitchcock, and the documentary film A Movie Guide for Perverts, among others.
