THE tragic conflict in Ukraine is being used by those with a vested interest in the militarisation of Europe and in aggressive resource wars to challenge the neutrality not only of Ireland but also of the other European neutral states, especially, Sweden, Finland, and Austria.

The war in Ukraine has complex local and international causes but is being oversimplified in the Western media as a clash between good and evil.

Simplistic solutions to deal with this conflict include pouring in weapons and munitions adding fuel to the fires of war, and attempting to make peace by making war.

Neutrality for Ukraine would have and should have prevented this conflict. Those who are calling for the abandoning of Irish neutrality and joining Nato at best mistaken, including those calling for the expulsion of the Russian ambassador.

We should recall the words of George Orwell who wrote in his novel 1984: “War Is Peace. Freedom Is Slavery. Ignorance Is Strength.”

These words now seem appropriate to the broader conflict between Russia and US-dominated Nato, which has turned the Ukrainian conflict into a new proxy war.

There are also very relevant to Irish neutrality as well as for Ukraine and other countries.

The lies that were told to justify wars in Serbia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and elsewhere, under the guise of humanitarian interventions and now being erased — war is peace and the lies become the truth.

These regime-change wars were serious breaches of international laws made possible by the abuses of the powers of veto by the US and its Nato allies Britain and France.

Vladimir Putin and the Russian government were concerned that the expansion of Nato up to its borders indicated that Russia was being targeted for regime change.

Russia felt justified in launching its own war of aggression, which is also in breach of international law. None of these illegal wars are justified but they do demonstrate that Ireland should have nothing to do with such destructive military alliances and should focus its efforts on promoting international peace by reinforcing its neutrality rather than abandoning it.

The Irish people are genuinely concerned about the suffering and killing of Ukrainian people. In this 21st century, it is not just conflicts in Europe that should concern us, but all military conflicts that are doing huge damage to humanity as a whole, and to our vulnerable living environment.

The greatest threat facing humanity now is climate change yet this is being ignored and progress to deal the environmental damage is being reversed.

We should have learned from the first world war — which cost the lives of up to 50,000 Irish soldiers — that Ireland will never have the capacity to be anything other than cannon fodder as part of a military alliance.

Since 1958, Ireland has played a huge role in promoting international peace and has achieved this by the courageous peacekeeping by our Defence Forces combined with our positive neutrality foreign policy.

Proposals to increases defence spending, purchase fighter jets and naval warships ignore the reality that the territory of Ireland, or of any small country, can never be defended from invasion by conventional military means.

The best and only practical way to defend the Irish people is by reinforcing our neutrality.

As a deterrent against the very unlikely event of an invasion, Irish defence policy and practice should be radically changed from one of conventional military defence to one of being prepared for guerrilla warfare in the event of any such invasion. 

This is how we achieved our independence and how we managed to avoid entanglement in the second world war, and how the people of Vietnam and Afghanistan defeated French, US and USSR military powers.

If foreign powers encroach on our air or sea spaces, do we shoot them down or sink them with our newly purchased jets if they refuse to leave? 

If a civilian aircraft full of passengers hijacked by terrorists is flying through our airspace, do we shoot it down killing all on board? Allowing the British RAF to do so over Irish territory is also a reckless policy.

Irish neutrality has a long and respected history dating back to Wolfe Tone in the 1790s. The Irish Neutrality League was active in 1914 to keep Ireland out of the first world war, using the slogan: “We serve neither king nor kaiser, but Ireland.”

After we joined the United Nations, our neutrality took on a more positive role with our Defence Forces playing an active role with UN peacekeeping from 1958 to the present time.

Some 88 Irish soldiers have died while serving overseas. Abandoning neutrality means abandoning this proud peacekeeping tradition as we join the breakers of international law.

This positive neutrality enhanced the reputation of Ireland internationally so much so that we have been elected on to the UN security council on five occasions.

Successive Irish governments have sought to compromise or end Irish neutrality, by allowing US military forces to use Shannon airport while waging wars of aggression in the Middle East.

The Irish people have remained committed to maintaining positive neutrality — a recent poll by Amarach Research in February showed 76 per cent of the Irish people in favour of neutrality.

There are important moral, legal, humanitarian and existential, reasons why Ireland should maintain a policy and practice of positive neutrality.

The moral reasons are based on the old-fashioned 5th Commandment “Thou shall not kill.”

Now Russia is also waging an unjustified war in Ukraine because of the failures by all concerned to find peaceful solutions to this conflict.

The legal reasons are based on the importance of the rule of law at national, regional and international levels, as opposed to the rule of abusive force.

At national legal level, An Garda Siochana is obliged to investigate and prevent serious crimes including crimes of torture and war crimes committed elsewhere which people in Ireland may have facilitated or been complicit in.

At regional level, the European Union has outlawed capital punishment. However, 21 EU members states are also members of Nato, and Nato has been involved in illegal wars resulting in the deaths of millions of people. This is capital punishment by means of war.

At international law levels, Adam Lupel of the International Peace institute writes that “small states are by definition vulnerable in a world where international law is compromised and only might makes right.”

Small states like Ireland need to uphold the rule of international law rather than join the lawbreakers.

Humanitarian reasons for Irish neutrality should be a priority for the Irish people given our history of occupation by a foreign power that committed crimes against humanity against our people, forcing millions of Irish people to seek refuge in other countries.

Irish facilitation of Middle East wars of aggression contributed to the refugee crisis, and our government is failing to promote peace in the Ukrainian conflict.

The existential reasons for neutrality are highlighted by the risks of nuclear accident or nuclear war due to the present conflict in Ukraine and the possession of and threats to use nuclear weapons by at least nine countries.

Promoting peace by peaceful means using our positive active neutrality is the only sensible and practical policy for Ireland into the future.

Dr Edward Horgan BA, MPhil, PhD, Commandant (retired), served on several occasions with the Defence Forces as a UN military peacekeeper in the Middle East, worked with EU, OSCE, UN, Carter Centre on election monitoring missions in post-conflict situations in the Balkans, eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa. In 2008 he completed a doctoral thesis on international peace and reform of the United Nations.

This article first appeared in the Irish Examiner (www.irishexaminer.com).