A FROG-IN-THE-WELL SOLUTION

Ngu proposes a peace plan for Ukraine that requires concessions from both sides of the conflict.

The author, a computer scientist who fled South Vietnam after the communist takeover in 1975, considers the conflict in Ukraine and questions whether “the Kremlin autocrat” meets the traditional criteria of a fascist. Ngu bases his contention that Putin is indeed a fascist on statements the Russian leader has made expressing a desire for a reconstitution of a “Holy Rus,” composed of ethnic Slavic members of the Russian Orthodox Church. The author posits that Putin’s grand plan includes not only the seizure of Ukraine but the eventual possession of Belarus. Detailing how Ukrainian resistance and Western support have so far stalled Putin’s designs, Ngu describes how his Crimea–Ukraine–Russia–Donbas peace plan would require the withdrawal of both Russian and Ukrainian occupying forces and the return of Crimea to Ukraine to facilitate Russia’s purchase of the territory for a series of concessions. In exchange for these concessions, which include the repatriation of displaced persons and prisoners as well as the cancellation of Ukrainian debt, Ngu proposes that Ukraine undertake a stance of “engaged neutrality” toward Russia, offer native residency to Russian separatists in Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia, and request the removal of sanctions on Russia by the international community. Ngu has invested commendable effort in the creation of his plan, using the logic and pragmatism of a scientist: “I look at the world from a software engineering view. There is a problem (an intractable conflict); there is a goal (peace); in between, there is an R&D process to produce creative solutions.” Unfortunately, the scheme fails to take into account human emotion and largely rests on the appeasement of Russian desires, offering little justice to the victims of the illegal invasion. The Ukrainian people would no doubt wonder why a settlement that offers “satisfaction for both” sides should be considered at all.

An admirable, well-written intellectual exercise with limited real-world applicability.