This summary is based on Cemil Kerimoglu’s article, “Europe Needs Moral Rearmament: Confronting the Hypocrisy of the Anti-Colonial Movement.”
The article argues that Europe is losing its ability to stand up to Russia because it is weighed down by guilt over its past, and Russia deliberately exploits this weakness. According to the author, the Kremlin uses propaganda to twist Europe’s history of colonialism and World War II to make Western support for Ukraine look like aggression, while falsely presenting Russia’s invasion as “anti-colonial” and equating Ukrainian nationalism with Nazism. The article says this strategy is meant to confuse and demoralize Europe so it hesitates to act.
The author also argues that Russia, not Europe, is the real colonial power today, pointing to its long history of violently controlling Ukraine, the Baltics, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Caucasus. He criticizes Western “anti-colonial” movements for focusing almost exclusively on Western crimes while ignoring or excusing Russian imperialism. The main conclusion is that Europe must stop letting its past be used against it, rebuild its moral confidence, and clearly recognize Russia as an imperial aggressor in order to effectively defend Ukraine and itself.
