Why Ukraine Matters

 

Why Ukraine Matters

I recently received an inquiry from a friend about whether our nation should be supporting Ukraine in its battle against the invading Russians. I gave my friend this response:

The issue of military support for Ukraine comes down to the question of whether we think it important for Ukraine to survive as an independent nation or not. Western military support is, I am sure, the only way the Ukrainians have a chance of driving the Russians out of their country. Whether or not we care about the independence of Ukraine really comes down to our position on Putin’s desire to reconstitute the Russian Empire aka the Soviet Union. If he is successful in defeating Ukraine, his next targets will probably be Moldova and Georgia. They were both republics of the USSR. I believe the real danger to us from Putin’s expansionism lies with the three Baltic republics. They were republics of the USSR and had been part of the pre-Soviet Russian Empire. They are now all members of NATO. If Putin attacks them, the NATO treaty would require all other NATO nations to join them against the Russians militarily. It seems clear that Russia could never defeat NATO in a conventional war, but of course Russia has an enormous stockpile of nuclear weapons both tactical and strategic. A war of any kind with Russia is the last thing we need. Casualties would be high on both sides even if nuclear weapons were not used. All of this is to explain why I believe we must do everything we can to defend Ukraine. Letting Putin have Ukraine is essentially appeasement of an expansion-minded dictator. I abhor war. I would abolish it worldwide if I could. But sometimes evildoers force our hand. I believe Putin has done that with his invasion of Ukraine. I don’t advocate sending troops into Ukraine to fight the Russians. That could only lead to a larger war with Russia. I do believe we need to support Ukrainian independence, not so much because Ukraine is important in its own right but because of Putin’s obsession with reestablishing the Russian Empire. I hope this clarifies things for you and your friends.