The Russo-Ukrainian War as Orthodox-Latin Conflict

Despite Putin’s peculiar exegesis, his speech attests to a fundamental fact of international politics: religions and world civilizations matter. This statement became the chorus of many political scientists since the turn of the 21st Century. It is what Scott Thomas calls “the global resurgence of religion.” The thought of one influential political scientist, Martin Wight (1913-1972), bears particular significance for contemporary conversations on the relationship between religion in international conflicts, especially between Russia and the West. Applying Wight’s thought to the present conflict, two points are apparent. Firstly, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a continuation of the historical Byzantine-Latin conflict and, secondly, the West must aggressively defend its civilizational values by assisting Ukraine against Russia.