In the article, its author Srdjan Garcevic states, "Balkanism gives birth to the worst type of tourist – the kind who after reading one book and spending a few days in the region 'westsplains' history and politics to the locals.
"[4] In 2019, journalist Edward Lucas described the term westsplaining as referring to a common event in conferences, diplomatic meetings and online social networks, in which Westerners criticised Eastern Europeans distrust of "dialogue with Russia".
[3][7] Smoleński and Dutkiewicz accused Anglosphere scholars and political commentators from across the political spectrum, including John Mearsheimer,[7] Ted Galen Carpenter of the Cato Institute, Wolfgang Streeck, Jeffrey Sachs, Yannis Varoufakis, Tucker Carlson, and Mariana Mazzucato, of focusing on the enlargement of NATO and Russia–United States relations as having primary importance, neglecting Ukraine's international legal right of self-determination.
"[3] Legal scholar Patryk Labuda described westsplaining in this context as ignoring Russian imperialism as an explanation of the invasion, in favour of NATO expansion as the main causal factor.
Labuda stated that there was "a real risk" of international lawyers westsplaining in the broader contexts of their legal analyses of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.