The Bystander Effect is Crippling the US-NATO Response to Ukraine
Each day of inaction forfeits more of the moral high ground
The US and NATO response to Putin’s criminal invasion of Ukraine looks more like Bystander Effect than it does principled foreign policy. Each Allied countries’ strong rhetoric is insufficient as their inaction to effect any change on the ground that will stop Putin’s slaughter and save innocent lives.
Psychologists have long noted the phenomenon that the more persons present witnessing an assault or brutality, the less likely any one of them is to try to stop it. They attribute this reluctance to two main factors — social pressure and diffusion of responsibility.
On the other hand, if only one or two persons are witnesses to an assault, they are more likely to take action to stop the perpetrator.
Europe and the world stood by watching a madman invade his neighbor’s sovereign territory once before. By the time they took united action, Hitler had occupied almost every square mile of the European continent. And it was too late to save six million Jews.
Every nation involved vowed, “Never again.”
Unfortunately, it seems emptier words were never uttered.
