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NATO not sending out invitations to Ukraine; explained by liberalism

PSCI2602A: International Relations: Global Political Economy

July 19th, 2023

After 503 days have passed since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war, Canada and

the other G7 countries, made their first official promise to continue to provide support to
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Ukraine. The article written by Mark Mackinnon titled ‘By keeping Ukraine out of NATO, some

allies leave the door open to negotiations with Russia’ unravels the reasons for which the West

continues to put off inviting Ukraine to join NATO. While Ukraine is ‘on a more democratic

path’ than some NATO countries and has proven to be prepared to join as they are using NATO

tactics and armaments, there is a factor keeping Ukraine out of the alliance. According to this

article, the ‘real reason’ why the leaders of current NATO countries are reluctant to invite Kyiv

now is because they believe that they will require to make peace with Russia one day.

Putin has justified his starting of the war based upon his view of Ukraine as a lost

province of Russia which he wants to prevent from joining NATO. While many believe that the

invasion would’ve occurred regardless, and that Putin used this argument to cover the colonial

purposes behind his war. Nonetheless, if any truth lies in Putin’s statement, western leader’s view

this as a glimmer of hope that there could one day be peace between Russia, Ukraine, and

members of the alliance. That is why the best course of action might just be to put a hold on

extending an invitation to Ukraine.

The theory that can best explain this course of event is liberalism. The reason for which

NATO is not inviting Ukraine to join the alliance relies essentially on liberal principles. The first

being that this decision made by NATO leaders is reached by considering the many actors that

influence the international political economy, as highlighted by the liberal approach, states,

corporations and individuals have their own interest to pursue. Additionally, the liberal’s goal to

attain a continuously more unified world is the key element causing them to hold on to the little
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hope that all parties could eventually be at peace. Thirdly, this conflict can ultimately be viewed

as a ‘battle’ between liberalism and economic nationalism or “realism”. Understanding this case

in the context of liberalism is significant because while many feel it frustrating that Ukraine is

left to fight for itself, liberalism offers a different perception as to why the situation is

unravelling the way that it is why the current course of action may be more beneficial now and in

the long run.

Firstly, the liberal approach allows us to have a complete understanding of the complexity

of the situation by considering the many actors that influence the international economy and

political landscape. As the world today operates largely accordingly to liberal principles, it is

logical that liberalism best explains the recent occurring and how corporations, states, alliances,

and individuals play a role. NATO countries are the ones providing most of the support to

Ukraine. The resources provided by those countries is coordinated by the alliance, amplifying the

help that is provided. Turkey is a perfect example to demonstrate how each individual actor can

play an essential part on the world stage. Since the beginning of the war, Turkey has welcomed

hundreds of thousands of Russian immigrants and has increased its purchases of Russian gas and

oil, while still being a key member of NATO and providing weaponry to Ukraine (Glinski,

2023). Turkey has offered to act as a mediator between the two countries, when and if both sides

were to be willing to open discussion. If Turkey can continue to maintain its positive relationship

with both countries, it could become a key actor in the resolution of conflict. The liberal theory

was also reflected in the role of private sector corporations in this war. A flux of companies left

Russia when the conflict began and relocated their headquarters elsewhere. This move was
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surely motivated by security factors while also wanting to show solidarity with Ukraine by

hurting the Russian economy.

Moreover, while many pressure NATO to take a stronger stance and act more

meaningfully by formally inviting Ukraine to join the alliance, the liberal views provide a

reasoning as to why no formal invitation is in the talks. As stated by O’Brian & Williams,

liberals seek cooperation, they argue that if every individual was left to act freely, peace should

prosper as countries and institutions become increasingly more dependent on one another.

Clearly, through a liberal-led IPE era, conflict can still arise. However, liberals stick to their

nature and try to avoid intensifying the situation. If NATO countries were to actively participate

in the war by joining Ukraine on the battlefield, the hope of one day reaching peace between

Russia, Ukraine, and the West becomes extremely small. While hope may seem slim now,

staying off the battlefield and trying to generate talks between leaders is the only option that

avoids worsening the situation. Each actor has its own interests and priorities; Ukraine wanting

to remain an independent nation while being protected by NATO and Russia seeking security by

preventing the alliance from bordering its country. Liberalism explains why Western world

leaders will go to every possible length to solve this in a democratic way, in the hopes that a

more unified world will prosper.

Finally, we will include another IPE theory that will help in analyzing the reasons behind

this war and why Russia and Western countries are clashing. As previously mentioned, global

political economy currently functions according to a liberal approach. However, many countries,

such as Russia, don’t operate according to the liberal approach. Putin could be categorized as a
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realist because he is on an ongoing quest for power. Putin saw a threat to his country as NATO

continued to expand towards the East. His solution was to use strength to prevent Ukraine from

joining the alliance. While this is making Russia an ‘enemy’ to Western countries including many

important economic partners, for Putin, that comes second to securing his territorial power by

keeping NATO at a safe distance. While the world tries to impose costs on Russia for its actions

through economic sanctions, Putin cares little for those sanctions and about the damaged

relationship with other countries. The Russian president’s main preoccupation is his owns

country’s interest, in other words, he worries about absolute gains and not relative gains. At the

contrary, Western nations are persistently looking for a way that would allow everyone to come

out of this having suffered as little as possible.

All in all, while the chosen article is best explained by liberal practices, but we must

make use of multiple IPE theories in order to understand the cause of this war and the current

motives of each actor and how they impact each other.

References
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Glinski, S. (2023, March 6). Turkey’s balancing act between Putin and the west. Foreign Policy.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/03/06/turkey-elections-russia-erdogan-putin-nato/

MacKinnon, M. (2023, July 13). By keeping Ukraine out of NATO, some allies leave door open
to negotiations with Russia. The Globe and Mail.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-nato-g7-ukraine-security-guarantee/

O’Brien, R., & Williams, M. (2020). The Liberal Perspective. In Global political economy:
Evolution and dynamics (pp. 11–16). essay, Macmillan Education.