A World Without Morality
On 21 September 2025, I participated in a debate on the role of morality in international relations with Kenneth Roth, the highly regarded former head of Human Rights Watch, and Christina Lamb, a prominent British journalist and author. The debate was sponsored by The Institute of Art and Ideas in London.
It's remarkable to hear Kenneth Roth's view on why Putin invaded Ukraine.
Paraphrasing: 'Putin could not afford to have a functioning democracy on his border to be an example to his own people.'. So, he had to invade Ukraine.
One wonders how people this facile could rise to any level of prominence or respect.
Interesting discussion, thanks for sharing. I liked the way you navigated away from some of the possible pitfalls that could have sidetracked the entire discussion away from the initial topic. Especially regarding Kenneth Roth's pretty slanted views (IMO) regarding not only Russia's motivations for entering Ukraine, but his ludicrous, misinformed view that Ukraine could somehow win what was an easily avoidable war - which we've been hearing from European leaders now for years, and they have turned out to be completely and absolutely wrong in their assessments.