A Frog-In-The-Well Solution - The Russo-Ukrainian Conflict (Paperback)

This CURD Book presents the CURD Plan, a comprehensive 18-point, double-victory framework to end the war in Ukraine and establish a new relationship between Russia and Ukraine. Its innovative "double-victory" approach breaks from conventional diplomacy: both nations reach the same peace, but through separate victories that reflect their distinct motivations.

Ukraine's victory is centered on land. Under the CURD Plan, Ukraine regains sovereignty over all its pre-2014 territory, including the Crimean Peninsula. As the rightful sovereign, Ukraine can then make a judicious decision regarding Crimea that supports the full recovery and rebuilding of its embattled eastern mainland region - a region more deeply anchored in its national identity.

Russia's victory is centered on people. This war of choice stems from the Kremlin leader's fixation on re-creating, not the Soviet empire, but the historical Holy Rus' - an ethnocentric realm uniting Russians, Ukrainians, and other Slavic descendants in neighboring countries. As the ruler of the world's largest country, he has repeatedly signaled disinterest in expanding landmass for its own imperial sake. His invasion of Ukraine reflects an ideological project rooted in Slavic Orthodox nationalism that veers towards fascism with its elevation of the "pure" citizen. Ukrainians, fitting this Slavic Orthodox mold, are seen as a people to be "brought home" to the Holy Rus' - with land serving only as a means to that end.

The CURD Plan stands for the Crimea-Ukraine-Russia-Donbas Plan. Its 18 points align the two national motivations: Ukraine accepts the "people" provisions, while Russia concedes the "land" components.

The CURD Book begins with an introduction to the wind of war. It then presents the two principles of the Plan, which Russia and Ukraine must independently affirm before entering a formal peace negotiation to discuss the full 18 points. The Book details each point, most containing a "land" element for Ukraine and a corresponding "people" term for Russia. Many points are supported by novel political science concepts, such as mepenism (engaged neutrality), xiliism (the territorial dimension of fascism), native residency (separatist Russians living in Ukraine), and diasporic communes (Holy Rus' without the land component).

The CURD Book then envisions new futures for the two neighbors. Ukraine emerges as a buffer country confidently engaging both its western and eastern dimensions. Russia emanates a renewed sense of responsibility wherever Russian communities reside and reclaims its economic and geopolitical strength from its true center: the vast, energy-rich Siberia - a strategic asset for the age of artificial intelligence.

The Book frames the core Plan chapters with biographical reflections from the author's youth in Vietnam during the Vietnam War, drawing parallels with the present conflict. This culminates in the Final Battle, a cunning and highly speculative military campaign by Ukraine designed to force Russia to fight at the negotiating table rather than on the battlefield.

With 500 pages of narration and four years in the making, the CURD Book is a genre-defying work - blending history, analysis, creative peacemaking, theory, strategy, humanity, and personal memoir. It avoids name-dropping, refers to historical figures by role, and adopts a humorous tone. Although the Plan addresses the gravest matters of war and peace, readers may find themselves smiling at moments of unexpected wit.

The CURD Plan website is at curdplan.docngu.net.

Doc Ngu writes about novel solutions to the world's most intractable conflicts in the series A Frog-In-The-Well Solution.Born and raised in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War, Doc Ngu experienced a post-colonial French education steeped in romanticism. After the fall of South Vietnam in 1975, he encountered the literature of socialist realism and communist class warfare. In 1980, he arrived in the United States as a refugee and discovered the liberating force of American education-an interdisciplinary landscape that encouraged intellectual freedom and creative problem-solving.He graduated with highest honors in engineering in 1984 and earned his doctorate in Computer Science in 1996-hence the "Doc" in "Doc Ngu."From the crucible of romanticism, realism, and a drive to reconcile the two, Doc Ngu crafts outside-the-box answers to boxed-in global conundrums. Some hail them as deus ex machina moments; others dismiss them as idiotic. The "Ngu" in "Doc Ngu" is an abbreviation of "Nguyễn," the most common Vietnamese surname. It also means "idiot" in Vietnamese-a deliberate choice to acknowledge and embrace expected criticism.A frog in a well knows nothing beyond its small world-but croaks all night long.