If we students of history are not active in what’s happening in Eastern Europe right now and in the extreme politics of today, what good is it?.. Other than a selfish indulgence?
A man I respect and admire posted a comment on Twitter admonishing people not to donate to Ukrainian causes. I pointed out the historical mission of the Red Cross. If I had a hand in influencing his thinking, then history has served its purpose.
https://twitter.com/LawrenceATate/status/1654981385093001216?s=20
We can’t treat current events – no matter how important they seem to be – in the same way as we can historical events because we know only as much about what is happening as the rival combatant powers wish to reveal and how much neutral observers are able to report on (and they don’t tell us everything if they want to keep observing an ongoing conflict). This means the majority of “news” we receive is filtered through one side, and no country involved in an existential conflict is going to be particularly scrupulous about what they reveal and how they frame it to the international audience.
Frankly, I’d just like to see some diplomacy going on. We can all push for that.