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Russia has a hunger plan. Vladimir Putin is preparing to starve much of the developing world as the next stage in his war in Europe. 1/16
In normal times, Ukraine is a leading exporter of foodstuffs. A Russian naval blockade now prevents Ukraine from exporting grain. 2/16
If the Russian blockade continues, tens of millions of tons of food will rot in silos, and tens of millions of people in Africa and Asia will starve. 3/16
The horror of Putin& #39;s hunger plan is so great that we have a hard time apprehending it. We also tend to forget how central food is to politics. Some historical examples can help. 4/16
The idea that controlling Ukrainian grain can change the world is not new. Both Stalin and Hitler wished to do so. 5/16
For Stalin, Ukraine& #39;s black earth was to be exploited to build an industrial economy for the USSR. In fact, collectivized agriculture killed about four million Ukrainians. 6/16
Notably, as people began to die in large numbers, Stalin blamed the Ukrainians themselves. Soviet propaganda called those who drew attention to the famine "Nazis." 7/16
Actual Nazis had related ideas. They liked the idea of controlling Ukrainian agriculture. This was in fact Hitler& #39;s central war aim. 8/16
Hitler wished to redirect Ukrainian grain from the Soviet Union to Germany, in the hope of starving millions of Soviet citizens. 9/16
The Second World War was fought for Ukraine and in considerable measure in Ukraine, between dictators who wanted to control food supplies. 10/16
Russian memory politics prepared the way for a 21st-century hunger plan. Russians are told that Stalin& #39;s famine was an accident and that Ukrainians are Nazis. This makes theft and blockade seem acceptable. 11/16
Putin& #39;s hunger plan is, I believe, meant to work on three levels. First, it is part of a larger attempt to destroy the Ukrainian state, by cutting off its exports. 12/16
Putin& #39;s hunger plan is also meant to generate refugees from North Africa and the Middle East, areas usually fed by Ukraine. This would generate instability in the EU. 13/16
Finally, and most horribly, a world famine is a necessary backdrop for a Russian propaganda campaign against Ukraine. Actual mass death is needed as the backdrop for a propaganda contest. 14/16
When the food riots begin, and as starvation spreads, Russian propaganda will blame Ukraine, and call for Russia& #39;s territorial gains in Ukraine to be recognized, and for all sanctions to be lifted. 15/16
Russia is planning to starve Asians and Africans in order to win its war in Europe. This is a new level of colonialism, and the latest chapter of hunger politics. 16/16
