Internecine War and Intra-Nicene Sin

Russia, Ukraine, and Ethiopia through the Lens of the Apocalyptic Oration by Basil the Great on the Book of Amos

Abstract

The Russo-Ukrainian War, beginning with the invasion and illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, witnessed a full-scale invasion of the entire nation in early 2022. As the renewed conflict enters into its seventh month, its repercussions threaten to impact other nations in myriad ways, ranging from radioactive catastrophes from attacks on civilian nuclear power plants to direct military aggression or spillover to other nations. One of these looming concerns is a famine in Ethiopia resulting from reduced access to Ukrainian wheat; the Black Sea shipping lanes are under threat by Russian warships and mines. This article offers a theological reflection on this conflict, and how famine is now being used as a weapon of war. The orations of Basil the Great are discussed in relation to economic analyses on the causes of famine by Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen. These are brought forward in relation to the Russo-Ukrainian War, which has become an internecine war within Orthodox Christianity.