How the US and Its Allies Can Weaken the Russian Army in Ukraine
The US and its allies are looking for ways to tilt the balance toward Ukraine in its fight against invading Russian forces without getting into direct firefights with the Russian military that might escalate into World War III. I have a proposal that I haven’t seen discussed yet.
Reports suggest that the morale of Russian troops is not very good. Part of the reason may be that they aren’t that eager to fight in a cause that they aren’t convinced is a just one, despite the propaganda they have been told. So a big incentive might be all it takes to convince many Russian soldiers to surrender or otherwise desert the Russian army. My proposal is the US and its allies promise to expedite permission for immigration to the US, UK, France, Germany, Australia, etc., of Russian soldiers in Ukraine who surrender or otherwise desert from the Russian army. I think this is already in accordance with current law—or at least within the discretion of leaders who execute the immigration laws. It just involves clarifying that a Russian soldier who surrenders or deserts has a “well-founded fear of persecution” if they were returned to Russia. However, it might be even better if this policy were enshrined in legislation.
My prediction is that if deserting the Russian army in Ukraine became a ticket to a free and rich country that many, many Russian soldiers would, in fact desert. Some would be afraid for their families back home, or simply of being cut off from their families back home. But wanting to desert and not daring is not a recipe for a soldier to fight enthusiastically. And even those who don’t want to desert at all are likely to have their morale hurt by having a lot of their fellow soldiers deserting.
The first thing I like about this policy is that it gains an advantage precisely from the attraction of freedom and the riches that ordered freedom brings. The second thing I like is that it makes a clear distinction between the evil Putin is perpetrating and the innocence of many Russian soldiers.
The third thing I like about this policy is that it creates a precedent for a similar policy we can use vis a vis our other great geopolitical rival: China. The Free World should be allowing relatively free immigration from all areas controlled by the People’s Republic of China in order to bolster our numbers and reduce theirs. And any attempt on their part to obstruct immigration to the Free World is going to show the inferiority of their system in the key dimension of what people’s lives are like.