Does Navalny’s death represent a transparent threat for democracy, or does it let us peek behind a glass curtain to which proper access has always been denied to us? Will the European and American leaders finally act according to their speeches? It appears like the West is involuntarily showing that their porcelain palace is cracking up.  

Student Commentary

By Nicole Di Maria and Harman Singh / Staff Writers || Edited by Marya Polovinkina

Alexei Navalny died on Feb. 16 of what the Russian government issued to the public as “sudden death syndrome.” Reuters reported his body to have been found with signs of bruises. Speculations on his death immediately spread, and the public strongly believes he was assassinated by the Russian government, as Aljazeera reports. Navalny served on the Russian Opposition Coordination Council (OCC), led the Russia of the Future party, and founded the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK). He had always been a key figure in the understanding of Russian democratic or un-democratic standards.   

Does Navalny’s death represent a transparent threat for democracy? Or does it let us peek behind a glass curtain to which proper access has always been denied to us? It appears like the West is involuntarily showing that their porcelain palace is cracking up.  

The incarceration and death of Navalny, one most important opposition’s leader within the Russian oligarch system, represents one the biggest democratic backsliding of the last ten years for Europe. However, it is not only the assassination per se representing a dramatic occurrence for democracy. The facts are worsened by their contextualization within the upcoming European and American elections, the tensions rising once again in the Middle East, the recent right-wing parties elected in Latin America, and the “political bureaucracy” blocking UN action.  

Hidden behind the veil of the war in the Middle East, the West is now returning its attention towards its regional neighbor, as the superficial strategy they adopted towards Russia’s invasion is now rearing its ugly head. Russia’s position is flashing its torch towards Europe, bypassing a threat, and exposing Europe’s incompetence in prevention and deterrence. The European Union highlights its unity and immediate sanctions against Russia as a great success, forgetting that the values and ideas they preach make such countermeasure fall under the description of a bare minimum response.   

The EU’s policies on the Israel-Hamas conflict exacerbate the issue, demonstrating a lack of consistency, reliability, and credibility. As Josep Borrell, the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs highlights, the EU has not been able to achieve a concrete and long-term sustainable position, diverging between trade deals with Israel and being the major aid supplier to Palestinian authorities. 

While the world’s attention shifted away from Ukraine towards Gaza, Putin cleared the air: he will not capitulate to the West’s demands. It is also necessary to highlight that Borrell also assessed: not all Member States agree on the correlation between the defense of Ukraine and EU’s security. Still, if minor cracks have appeared in EU Member States, they nevertheless remain united. In fact, the EU has increased its security aid packages to Ukraine, as reported by Reuters. Nonetheless, new doubts arise while crises go on, affecting civilians more than any politician. 

Will the EU continue to rely on the United States’ hegemony to keep furthering its own fundamental role in the world? Considering speculations as truth, will Navalny’s assassination and Russia’s recklessness finally shatter the glass curtain behind which Europe is hiding?  

Will the European leaders finally act according to their speeches? 

Meanwhile, cracks have evolved into more concrete partisan splits in the United States, Ukraine’s largest supplier of security aid. The Forum on Arms Trade, which has monitored and compiled official US statistics, highlights that since the start of President Joe Biden’s administration in January 2021, the US has provided Ukraine with more than $45.5 billion in security aid packages. However, polarization within the US House of Representatives coming from a small group of Congressmen composing The Freedom Caucus – a small but boisterous ultraconservative wing of the Republican Right – has derailed the consistent and unwavering support for Ukraine the US has stood for. 

The Caucus stands firm in public opposition to continuing the flow of aid packages, arguing as Senator Rand Paul stated that, “sending money to Ukraine actually makes our national security more endangered.” The Caucus has become a procedural speed bump for unhampered, bipartisan support for the aid packages. While the comments may come from a small fringe group in Congress, pressure has also been rising among some American populations. Indeed, pressure has reached the White House as well, where a anonymous senior official revealed that the United States would communicate to Ukraine that “we can’t do anything and everything forever.” 

Such reckless comments and shameless public caterwauling disrespects the high office that these congressmen hold; such behavior shows a great failure to realize the broader international implications of such actions. 

Thoughtless and immature “spats,” which boil down to party alignments, sabotage the safety and stability of the international order, and the great arsenal of democracy that the United States has fortified since the end of World War II.   

The very lives and freedom of the Ukrainian people hang in the balance. Those politicians that are recklessly emboldening authoritarian leaders, who view the liberal-democratic order as ‘fragmented’, should realize that the real world – where the hopes, dreams, and aspirations of countless people reside – is no place to play Risk in.  

Today, we live in a world where the US feels emboldened to break the very grounding principles of international law and the trust of the global community.  

We, as the international community, have a moral, legal, and ethical responsibility to stand united in our support for Ukraine in the face of senseless aggression and the unequivocally illegal invasion of a sovereign nation. We stand on the edge of backsliding into a world ruled by violent military logics and a lack of respect for international law, and our choices now will determine which path we shall walk down.   

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