The last time a major war broke out in Europe, the United States decided it was not our problem. Two years later, 3000 Americans died proving us wrong at Pearl Harbor — and it would take another four years and tens of millions of lives to bring the war to a decisive end. Today, major war rages in Europe again. Just like last time, one fascist dictator’s pseudo historical expansionism threatens peace in Europe and beyond — and, just like last time, we in the West are beginning to look the other way. Ukraine needs our support, as residents of the U.S., as representatives of our school’s non sibi values, and as democratic citizens. We must do more to help Ukraine triumph in the name of justice, setting an example for other authoritarians, and for the invaluable opportunity Ukraine’s defense offers the West.
The first and most important reason we cannot falter on Ukraine’s defense is the moral requirement for us to act. Tens of thousands of Ukrainians — civilians and active defenders of their homeland — have been killed in Putin’s war, and the authoritarian oppression of Russian civilians has only increased in light of Putin’s stumble in Ukraine. The vast majority of global governments recognize that Ukraine is fighting a noble war against a tyrannical, imperial regime that is actively attempting to erase its language, culture, and sovereignty. As such, sending military aid so Ukrainians can defend their homes is a moral necessity, from the perspective of U.S. residents, in service of Andover’s non sibi spirit, and simply as democratic global citizens. Whether or not Ukraine can win this war will largely be determined by how aggressive we are willing to be in its support. The U.S. can provide (and has provided) far more aid to Ukraine than any other Western country, especially in terms of military hardware designed with Russian opponents in mind. As the largest contributor to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), American policy towards Ukraine also influences how far European countries are willing to go in providing aid. Russia is treating this as an all-out war — and, if we want to meaningfully safeguard Ukraine and its people in the long term, we must start to do the same.
Additionally, the ambitions of an expansionist like Putin are unlikely to end at Ukraine’s western border. Supporting Ukraine will help make an example of Russia’s attempted land grab, working to deter additional Russian aggression toward Europe and Chinese aggression toward Taiwan. Taiwan’s leadership is reportedly “extremely worried” about the prospect of what the West abandoning Ukraine’s struggle might mean for its situation with China. As a close ally of Taiwan reliant on its semiconductor foundries, aggression against Taiwan would be a serious threat to America’s global positioning and domestic industries. This is our chance to make things right — and if we fail to make an example of Putin’s invasion, there will be nothing to stop the other dictators of the world from violating their neighbors.
Lastly, aiding Ukraine provides the United States with an invaluable geopolitical opportunity. For a cost no higher than a fraction of our annual defense budget’s worth in outdated weaponry, Ukraine has devastated the international perception and armed capabilities of the Russian military. Numbers like the 60.7 billion dollars that was recently approved for Ukraine might sound tremendous, but such a sum represents less than 1 percent of last year’s 6.1 trillion dollars in total government spending — imagine what they’d be able to do if we were willing to give them two percent. We are lucky enough that we don’t have to sacrifice our own lives and livelihoods in helping Ukraine; frankly, a little more help is the least we can expect to give them. Simply put, we currently have the rare opportunity to defeat one of the largest threats to international security at a very low human and financial cost to ourselves and most other countries. I believe we should use this opportunity while we still can.
Today with Ukraine, we have the opportunity to prevent history repeating itself as Poland in 1939. Moral obligation, strategic deterrence of future conflict, and the opportunity to secure global peace for a relatively low price all point towards doing much more for Ukraine than the bare minimum that we are currently providing. Russia isn’t holding back in its war against Ukraine, and we can’t afford what may happen if we fail to do the same.
