Time to Junk the Munich Analogy

No sooner had the announcement about a new policy for Ukraine from the Trump administration been made than the cries of “appeasement! Munich! Hitler! Neville Chamberlain” began to ring out from almost all corners of the mediaverse.

The lessons to be learned from the events in Munich in 1938, in which Prime Minister Chamberlain signed off on the Nazi seizure of Czechoslovakia, are of course relevant, but they have also been used to justify all manner of wars and violence that have had little justification. Perhaps even worse, the Munich analogy has been used to justify the refusal to negotiate with adversaries.

Were it up to me, I would banish that analogy from the English lexicon. I will briefly explain my reasoning.