The Faulty Metaphors of Appeasement and Molotov Ribbentrop Pact

We all rely on metaphors to make the present more understandable. I did the same when I compared Trump’s presidency to the era of Khrushchev.

The widely accepted narrative is that the historical parallel for Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine lies in the political events preceding the outbreak of the Second World War. According to this view, Nazi Germany’s successful aggressive moves to seize Austria and the predominantly German-populated territories of Czechoslovakia—facilitated by th...