Viewing the Ukraine Crisis from Central Europe
War and one’s place in the world
I grew up in the United States late in the Cold War. I was one of the Americans continually told to beware of the Soviet evil empire, and a threat of nuclear war always simmered in the background. But it was all rather a distant notion — a hypothetical that few thought would ever come to pass.
For Americans, wars happen “over there.” Not entirely without reason. The genocidal wars against native populations were over by the early 1900s, and generations later, Americans had become accustomed to feeling that wars never happened on U.S. soil. The World Wars, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War caused deaths to American soldiers “over there,” but the U.S. was not threatened.
Two Changes of Scenery
When I saved up enough money to return to school to earn my PhD, I narrowed my choices down to two schools. Both told me I would thrive in their department, and they really wanted me to join them. I choose the school in England over the one in the U.S., in large part so that I could experience living within another culture.
True, England is not radically dissimilar than the U.S., but there are cultural differences both subtle and more obvious. One difference I soon realized was the difference in cultural…
