Dr. Miklos K. Radvanyi
There are rare moments in international diplomacy when words fail us. And there are moments when Steve Witkoff supplies the words, leaving the rest of humanity wondering whether the English language has suffered a nervous breakdown. Describing Vladimir Putin as a humanitarian belongs in the latter category.
For centuries, philosophers, theologians, and great political scholars have struggled to define the essence of humanitarianism. Apparently, they were all wasting their time. All they needed was a short meeting with the real estate genius turned diplomat Steve Witkoff, who has discovered that the road to humanitarian enlightenment runs directly through the Kremlin. Move over Albert Schweitzer! Step aside Mother Theresa! Make room for Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, the newly discovered real patron saint of international compassion. After awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to Navanethem Pillay, one wonders whether the Nobel Committee has been informed already. After all, Putin’s humanitarian credentials are truly impressive, provided one adopts the revolutionary principle that destroying something is merely an unconventional method of demonstrating affection for it.
Consider Ukraine. Since February 2022, Russia has generously provided Ukrainian cities with an extraordinary variety of architectural modifications. Apartment buildings have been converted into rubble. Power stations have received explosive renovations. Hospitals and schools have experienced the unmistakable attention of Russian military technology. Millions of Ukrainians have been offered opportunities to explore alternative accommodations, frequently in foreign countries. What lesser minds call forced displacement, Putin’s admirers might describe as an ambitious international tourism initiative. And those unfortunate Ukrainians who have lost their lives? Perhaps they simply failed to appreciate the deeper humanitarian significance of Russian artillery.
The truly remarkable feature of Steve Witkoff’s supposed discovery is that Putin’s compassion has remained so well concealed from virtually everyone except those sufficiently fortunate to enjoy his personal hospitality. Ukrainian mothers apparently missed it. So did the inhabitants of Mariupol. So did the families of civilians killed in Bucha. Admittedly, however, diplomacy has always required special talent. Evidently, one of them is the ability to recognize a humanitarian beneath the exterior of a ruthless tyrant. This real estate genius’ secret is that with his amazingly superior intellect, he came to the conclusion that one should not examine what Putin does, but appreciate how pleasantly he explains it. Moreover, in his sophisticated mind, Mr. Genius also discovered that by simply sitting across from a tyrant, listening attentively, admiring his sincerity, and returning home with the comforting assurance that the gentleman possesses a good heart, is the alpha and the omega of successful diplomacy. What could possibly go wrong? By Mr. Witkoff’s intellectual standard, international history is overdue for a comprehensive humanitarian reassessment.
By this same logic, perhaps Adolf Hitler was merely passionate about European integration. Ioseb Vissarionovich Dzhugahvilli, alias Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, may have been an enthusiastic advocate of population redistribution. And Mao Zedong’s catastrophic Great Leap Forward could be reclassified as an unfortunate experiment in accelerated economic development. Naturally, such descriptions would be morally grotesque. Yet, that is precisely the problem with treating a tyrant’s personal charm as evidence of his benevolence. The victims rarely enjoy the privilege of participating in these charming conversations.
Putin, meanwhile, must be delighted to have such an irredeemably stupid amateur as his negotiating partner. For more than two decades, he has devoted considerable effort to demonstrating that international agreements are flexible instruments, national sovereignty conditional, and military aggression is a legitimate expression of Russian historical entitlement. His political achievements include the destruction of independent opposition, the repression of dissent, the annexation of Crimea, and the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Yet, one sympathetic real estate businessman can apparently discover beneath this extensive record the tender heart of a misunderstood philanthropist. Why waste money on sophisticated Russian Dezinformacija campaigns when a well-connected American emissary can perform the same services gratis?
There is, of course, a serious question beneath the comedy. What happens when the representatives of a great democracy begin confusing their personal relationships with foreign tyrants for a reliable understanding of those tyrants’ strategic intentions? The answer is that diplomacy ceases to be an instrument of national policy and becomes a theater of psychological self-deception. Moreover, the aggressor becomes a misunderstood statesman. The invaded country and its courageous president becomes an obstacle to peace. The defense of national sovereignty becomes an inconvenient technicality. Finally, the central question is no longer why Russia invaded Ukraine, but why Ukraine stubbornly refuses to accommodate Russia’s “humanitarian” aspirations. This is diplomacy turned upside down.
Until the United States of America does not wake up to the reality of the Kremlin’s real character by continuing to praise Putin’s humanitarian disposition, the latter will take maximum advantage of this macabre presentation. In this light, one can only imagine the next chapter in this idiotic pseudo-diplomatic adventure. The possibilities are endless once reality is liberated from the burdensome obligation to correspond with facts. Yet, the final joke is not on Putin. It will be in the United States of America. And to this amateur Steve Witkoff, the distance between wishful thinking and outright absurdity can be crossed without ever leaving the negotiating table in Moscow or Washington, D.C.
In closing, the tyrant who released one prisoner after four years of senseless detention receives humanitarian praise, while his war continues to inflict untold sufferings on millions is not a humanitarian. He is a dangerous tyrant who must be stopped at all costs.