Retired US Army Lieutenant General Ben Hodges Spoke About the Russia-Ukraine War and the Middle East Conflict as Factors of Global Instability

May 27, 2024

On May 27, Mr Ben Hodges, a retired Lieutenant General of the US Army and ex-commander of the US Army in Europe, delivered the eighth lecture at the National University of Ostroh Academy. The lecture's topic this time was "The Russian-Ukrainian War and the Middle East Conflict as Factors of Global Instability."

Eduard Balashov, Doctor of Science (Psychology), Professor, Assistant Rector for International Cooperation and Fundraising, moderated the meeting.

The most important quotes from Mr Ben Hodges' lecture are as follows:

• Most of the grain exported from Ukraine passes through the port in Constanta, staying in the territorial waters of Romania. However, the Romanian Navy has been searching for floating sea mines, some laid by Russia and others in the water since the First World War. They still pose a considerable threat to commercial shipping.
• Finland is a new member of NATO and has an important strategic position north of the Baltic Sea and near Russia. Finland has achieved high-security standards for its citizens as a member of the military alliance. It is responsible for protecting ships in the Baltic Sea.
• What happens in the Black Sea or the Baltic Sea does not stay there. We can also add the situation in the Middle East here. Commercial shipping, which runs through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal and is a huge part of the world economy, is now disrupted by Houthis, supported by Iran. They launch missiles against commercial vessels sailing in international waters. Therefore, the American, British, German and some other navies are trying to stop these attacks.
• Iran supports three main proxies: Hezbollah, Hamas in Gaza Strip and Houthis in Yemen. These are three different directions in which Iran contributes to the destabilisation of the West and the Arab states. Not all Arab states are friends of Iran; they see it as the main threat to regional stability. Iran is an Islamic country, but it is an entirely different branch of Islam; they are not Arabs; they are Persians. The strategic approach for the Arab states has been to support the desire for more normalised relations with Israel, when all of them in the past, when Israel was first created, refused to recognise its right to exist, resulting in a series of wars. However, the Arab states later recognised that their future could be better if strong Israel were their neighbour.
• Helping Ukraine to defeat Russia is a strategic task for the United States, Germany, France and Great Britain. What is happening in Gaza and how Israel is using its defence forces against Hamas and the Palestinians poses a serious political problem for President Biden as this is an election year. Tens of thousands of students are protesting in the streets against American support for Israel.
• What is the strategic goal of the United States and our allies? What are we trying to achieve? You need to establish the goals right to build the policy right.

Yaroslav Burkut, a 3rd-year student of the Educational and Research Institute of International Relations and National Security, shared his impressions from the lecture:

"We once again had the opportunity to speak with Ben Hodges and ask him questions. He shared his own thoughts on the development of events in the region of the Middle East, as well as Eastern Europe. Talking with the speaker, we built a constructive dialogue, the result of which was the generation of forecasts, as well as possible answers to the challenges that the international community is facing."

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