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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez rejoins DSA after membership lapse of seven years
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 27 Aug 2026
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I support AOC specifically and the DSA in a broad sense - but what made me cancel my membership is the DSA’s pants-on-head stupid and geopolitically naïve stance on the Ukraine war. The DSA leadership appears to not be capable of understanding that it was an expansionist war of conquest started and maintained by the Russian Federation, opposes US + other international military aid to Ukraine, opposes sanctions on the Russian federation in response to their grey-zone tactics and unprovoked military invasion of Ukraine, decries “NATO expansionism” (ignoring the fact that “NATO expansionism” is not only a very direct quote from the Kremlin, but also that the nations in question joined - and continue to join - as a direct and pointed response to Russian expansionism), and seems to think the problem can be solved by gathering around a campfire and singing kumbaya.
I hope that we eventually actually live in a consensus-oriented world where grievances are solved exclusively through diplomatic means… but that’s not today’s world. To pretend that it is is not only geopolitically naive to the point of self delusion, but strategically dangerous as well.
Their pamphlet calls for “the withdrawal of Russian troops through a settled ceasefire agreement” — a negotiated peace, basically. The (geopolitically not-naïve?) alternative is what exactly?
They’ve been saying that since pretty much immediately after Russia invaded, and haven’t changed it. Not an exhortation to respect the territorial boundaries of sovereign nations. Not supporting sanctions against the attacking country (Russia). No mention whatsoever of the grey-zone and subterfuge and repeated, systematic, brutal expansionism that Russia has engaged in since pretty much immediately after the Soviet Union fell. Just a “negotiated settlement”.
What even is an equitable negotiated settlement would be with a country that launched an unprovoked invasion under cover of subterfuge that violates the Geneva Convention?
A couple thing:
There was a potential peace deal in April 2022, just after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February. At that time, Ukraine and Russia appeared close to agreeing on a 10-point peace plan during talks in Istanbul, Turkey. Boris Johnson persuaded Zelenskyy to abandon the talks. It’s all documented. Johnson has a lot to answer for.
It’s quite right that most of the DSA’s focus is on the impact of America’s actions in the world, not Russia’s.
Unilateral US sanctions can cause some inconvenience to wealthy, powerful targets, but above all, they have been proven to cause widespread and often deadly harm to people who certainly don’t deserve it. See https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(25)00189-5/fulltext
The idea of an American political party demanding sanctions against countries that infringe the territorial boundaries of sovereign nations and engaging in unprovoked invasions is so ridiculously hypocritical that it's hard to believe people actually support it.