In the essay “War,” I wrote about standing up to bullies and now the Russian bully has made his latest threat. What should we do about the little man with the oversized ego? Well, here’s a thought. President Biden should reverse course on his energy initiatives and start pumping as much oil and natural gas as possible. This will accomplish two things: first it will drive down the price of oil and natural gas such that any monies accruing to Russia from the sale of POL and natural gas products will be much less than if Biden keeps his policies intact. Two: Shipping that oil and natural gas to Europe will help with the coming winter heating crisis and enforce the resolve of the NATO countries to continue to put pressure on Putin and Russia.
The European Parliament should meet and issue a proclamation that should any nuclear weapon be used in Europe, it will be assumed that all of the current Russian government members approved the use of that weapon. Charges will be filed in the International Criminal Court against each member of the Russian government and warrants issued for their arrests in all countries. If they cannot be arrested, they will be tried in the Hague in absentia and at such time as they might be arrested they will be incarcerated.
Further, all borders with Russian will be closed and no overflight of European countries will be allowed. Europe and the U.S. will coordinate with Japan and other countries contiguous with Russia to enforce the closure.
All countries with offensive computer capabilities should begin pumping the truth about Putin and Ukraine into Russian servers getting it to internet uses. Focus should be on what the status of being a pariah state will mean to the average Russian.
President Biden should support this initiative because it will make him a hero in Europe and he can use the good press. Secondarily, it will allow for replenishment of the U.S. Strategic Reserve which this administration has so foolishly squandered, knowing full-well the cost of replenishment with the current energy policies will be prohibitive.