I’m not going to analyze the progress of the negotiations. I’m not a professional negotiator and I don’t know the details of these negotiations. I hope the families of hostages – hostages being tortured, brainwashed, and dying as I write these words – are going to get closure. But I’m a realist. Here’s what these negotiations have confirmed for me.

What we already know. People are going to be sacrificed on the altar of geopolitics. Remember Afghanistan and people falling off planes? They were promised protection by the US. Oh well. Democracy, freedom, all that, become meaningless slogans when national security and geopolitics are involved. If you think otherwise then you live in some strange bubble.
As much as I admire what the protesters are doing, demanding their loved ones and friends be returned from the hostage hell, I doubt that politicians actually care (shocking, I know – with honorable exceptions). They will go back to their lives, surrounded by security, hoping that the issue of hostages just fades away. Again, it’s brutal and absolutely inhuman, but in geopolitics, a group of more than a hundred hostages is going to be sacrificed if it furthers some geopolitical interests. Heck, entire nations are sometimes forced to accept humiliating conditions by the global players and there’s little to nothing these nations can do about it. They can only accept a vision of their reformed nation imposed on them by the victors. Don’t get me wrong, there are nations that deserve or deserved such drastic treatment – Germany in the past and Russia in the present, as I point out in my recent Kyiv Post piece. But, of course, Russia’s likely going to be left alone, cause – suspense – nukes. Yep. So, if you have nukes, you can do whatever you damn well please, it seems. What happens if Russia uses a tactical nuke somewhere in Europe, for example? My guess is – a condemnatory chorus and… that’s it. Yep. That’s it. More appeasing. Welcome to the madhouse, folks.

UN buildings should be wiped off face of earth’ — former Israeli envoy said. I know he isn’t going to read it, but I’d like to thank him for these words. You Sir, have captured the sentiment of millions, maybe even billions, on this planet and channeled it right there in the UN.

At the same time, if you tried to rescue your loved one/friend/acquaintance from the clutches of the terrorist/psychopaths/maniacs, your own government could take an issue with that, am I right? Why? Cause it’s about the bigger picture and you negotiating with terrorists would set a precedent. Oh, wait, now you’re the terrorist for taking matters into your own hands.

So, you see, all these slogans we talk about – democracy, freedom, and so on, and so forth, we ought to always keep in mind, ”As long as geopolitical interests don’t demand otherwise, then all the human rights and freedom of choice talk quickly disappears and we’re just pawns on the global politics chessboard.”

Never let a good crisis go to waste, huh?