Putin gives a wake-up call from folly of indulgence

It is amazing how quickly the threat of war can bring clarity and urgency to cut through the contemporary fog of muddled Western thinking. As Russian troops have met initial stiff resistance in Ukraine, there has been a seismic shift in consideration of topics that for too long have been bogged down in the indulgences of the culture wars. Like the pandemic, the invasion of Ukraine and the threat of a wider war in Europe have galvanised leaders and ordinary people to focus on what is most important. This includes unity among people of like mind in the defence of freedom. On the streets of Kyiv, citizens from all walks of life have put aside any petty preoccupations of identity politics to take up arms to defend a greater purpose: their national identity.

Across the West there has been a belated appreciation that security of nations depends on the security of energy needed for society to function. The transformation has been most apparent in Germany, where Environment Minister Robert Habeck, a former co-leader of the Greens, has said coal-fired plants could run longer than planned and that he wasn’t ideologically opposed to extending the use of nuclear energy. Germany has lifted defence spending and on Sunday announced plans to build two liquefied natural gas terminals to break the country’s dependence on gas supplies pumped from Russia. In a landmark speech, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said: “The events of the past few days have shown us that responsible, forward-looking energy policy is decisive not only for our economy and the environment. It is also decisive for our security.”

Consideration of extending the use of coal past 2030 is another nail in the coffin of ambitions paraded with fanfare last year at the Glasgow climate summit to stop the world’s use of coal. That ambition was derailed by China and India, and now has been abandoned by the heart of the EU as well. The shift comes despite a new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warning of the need to accelerate global efforts. US President Joe Biden’s climate envoy, John Kerry, has complained publicly that the war in Ukraine must not be allowed to divert attention from action on climate change. But the truth now apparent to world leaders is that while billions are being spent in an effort to address the problem of climate change at home, greenhouse gas emissions from big-emitting countries led by China and India continue to rise sharply as they forge ahead building new capacity for coal-fired power.

With the highest electricity prices in the world, Germany is facing the consequences of having lost control of its energy destiny. Similar realities have been playing out all over the world, including in Britain, the US and Australia. Opportunities to develop new gas fields have been discouraged in the US as well as by state governments in Australia and countries across Europe because of climate change concerns. The result has been an increased dependence on Russia for gas in Europe and coal in the US, and on China for renewable energy infrastructure such as wind turbines and solar panels across the world.

Russia’s illegal incursions into Ukraine have provided a wake-up call. It is too early to say whether Mr Biden will change tack but the signals are there that rising prices at the petrol pump are starting to bite electorally. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki last week raised the possibility of increasing domestic oil and gas production to meet the shifting European demand. She said the Russian invasion of Ukraine made the case for reducing US dependence on foreign oil “even stronger”, arguing that Mr Biden supported “diversifying the range and means of energy production everywhere around the world”.

There is a lot at stake in getting things right. Higher energy prices will add pressure to inflation that is rising sharply. The war in Ukraine temporarily has put a halt to plans by the US Federal Reserve to start to lift interest rates this month. This has buoyed financial markets but they can be expected to swing wildly as events in Europe continue to unfold. The shining light must be the determination shown by ordinary Ukrainians to defend their country and resist being dragged back into the sphere of Russian suppression. Equally impressive is the unified response from across the free world in support of liberty. European leaders belatedly have agreed to increase spending for their own defence and to equip NATO properly. Mr Biden has an opportunity in his first State of the Union address on Wednesday AEDT to restate America’s desire to lead and to remove the impediments to energy independence.

Mr Putin’s bloody actions have given the world an opportunity to reflect on its history and the supremacy of freedom and the rules-based order. As Tony Abbott wrote on Tuesday, the worst contemporary folly has been the constant undermining of Western civilisation, history and national virtues. Partly it is deliberate subversion by cultural Marxists, he said, but mostly it’s the polite acquiescence of diffident and historically ignorant people conditioned not to give offence. Mr Putin, by his actions, has snapped Europe out of its lethargy and woken the world to the folly of dependence on untrustworthy partners. Not before time.