10 reasons why we must support Ukraine

1. Deter and resist aggression

In the wake of World War II, the one lesson the free world learned was "Never again" - not only from the Holocaust, but never again to appease violent, dangerous regimes, allowing the conquest and murder of millions while we delayed, negotiated, hoped concessions would satisfy their craving for power and ultimately responded too late. In fact, "Never again" as it relates to the Holocaust is tied inextricably with the democratic nations failure to stop Hitler earlier: 97% of the Jewish men, women and children murdered in the Holocaust were not German, but victims from countries conquered or subdued by Nazi aggression: close to 3 million in Poland alone, 1.3 million in the Soviet Union, over 1/4 million each in Czechoslovakia, Romania and Hungary - then Germany, at 165,000, in that awful list. Of course, appeasement failed, not only to save any of those lives, but to prevent the total war that followed, a war that, if it were fought today with modern weapons, we would likely few of us survive. Hence the Cold War's most difficult but essential mantra: "Never again". And this time, not only to just hope and pray and appease to avoid total war, but to do the hard work necessary to actually avoid it: to deter aggression wherever possible and resist it whenever necessary, and fight the bloody and terrible struggles in places like Korea, Vietnam , Iraq and Afghanistan, often with morally ambiguous allies, methods and limitations that left our soldiers, military and we ourselves wondering whether we were doing the right thing and if it was worth the terrible cost, not only in blood and treasure, but in the tearing of the fabric of our own country brought about by fighting a twilight struggle with few victories, many defeats and cruel losses. All that to try, imperfectly, sometimes horribly misguidedly and often stumbling in ignorance, to live up to the lesson the greatest generation taught us: Never again. Today, we face that awful choice once more - we all want peace, but to fail to resist the brutal aggression unleashed against Ukraine is not the path to peace, but to war, a war of which we have no way of knowing the outcome, or even imagining the horrible death and destruction of total war in the nuclear age. Now is the time, and Ukraine is the place, the new Sudetenland, to make peace if possible but reject appeasement at all costs. Strength of purpose and resistance to tyranny and violence will stop the Russian aggression, bring peace, and deter other powerful dictatorships who seek to destroy democracy and impose their rule by violence and conquest. We must Never again forget the costly lesson that appeasing aggressors only brings war. As difficult as fighting the Cold War was, it shows the way to maintain relative peace: steady, measured and determined resistance to aggression. That difficult, but proven successful strategy and legacy must be carried on in Ukraine. Never again must we let the dictators of the world impose their violent regimes on peoples struggling to build a better, democratic and free future. Never again must we allow dictators to threaten the lives of millions. Never again must we allow violent regimes to threaten and destroy the peace of all humankind. We are like the generation before World War II - never again must we allow our desire for peace to be turned against us, emboldening and encouraging evil - and bringing even more terrible death and destruction.

2. Discourage nuclear weapons proliferation

When the Soviet Union fell in 1991, Ukraine inherited about 1/3 of its nuclear weapons, which it voluntarily gave up in return for security assurances from Russia, Great Britain and the U.S. in the 1994 Budapest Memorandum. If we fail to live up to our promise to help Ukraine now, in addition to diminishing our standing in the world, it will send a message to all countries that no promises made to encourage denuclearization can be trusted, and they would be better off keeping, or developing, nuclear weapons of their own. The world is dangerous enough with a slowing growing club of nuclear-armed nations, most deterred by the similar weapons of their adversaries, or democratic governments that foreswear national aggression. Failing to keep our promise to protect the one country in history that voluntarily surrendered a world-destroying arsenal of nuclear weapons would send a dangerous signal and unleash a new round of nuclear proliferation, threatening us all with the very apocalypse the non-proliferation and nuclear treaty work of the last three-quarters century has so far successfully avoided. On the other hand, keeping our promise to help Ukraine would not only strengthen deterrence against aggression, but also reassure non-nuclear states that their best path to progress and prosperity should not include wasting resources on nuclear weapons ambitions.

3. Help Ukraine

Ukraine, like many post-Soviet nations, has struggled to build democracy, the rule of law and a free, fair and prosperous economy in the wake of generations of totalitarian communist rule. The smaller Baltic states have had great success, but of the larger post-Soviet states, only Ukraine, with all the bumps along the way, has shown a determination and will to fight past corruption, autocracy and oligarchy to build a peaceful, democratic and prosperous future for its people, as exemplified by the Maiden protests and revolution o f2013/2014, the spontaneous volunteer efforts to resist the subsequent Russian aggression, and the will and determination shown by the Ukrainian people today in their fight for national survival and freedom. That path, of a people fighting their way up to freedom after suffering under totalitarian rule, should be encouraged and supported, not only for its own sake, but as an example to people aspiring to be free everywhere.

4. Help Russia find a better path forward

One of those aspiring-to-be-free peoples are the Russians themselves. From Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and all those suffered or died in the Soviet Gulag, purges and pogroms, to the dissidents who bravely protested or wisely fled Russia at the beginning of the current war, Russians have risked and in many cases lost their lives to show that not all Russians support the tyranny of Soviet and now Russian brutal dictators. Russians must choose between advancing their national interests through conquest and violence, or joining the civilized world by renouncing aggression and working to build a better future through, according to their own lights, as all free peoples do, some combination of innovation, hard work, trade, science, education, reform, justice, equality, peaceful development, better use of technology, exploration, respect for and preservation of the environment, and the pursuit of moral, ethical and spiritual excellence. That is the better path forward for Russia - we cannot impose it, but we can make absolutely clear that the other path, that of war and aggression, will not be tolerated, and the sooner they renounce it, the sooner they can begin to build a better future for their country.

5. Uphold international law

International law is of course a work in progress. Jurisdiction and enforcement are unclear, and many nations, including the U.S. are unsure whether they really want their soldiers, for example, subject to international courts outside their control. Fair enough. But the evolving core of international law is and has been for some time that, at minimum, treaties are binding, such as the Geneva Convention treaties and United Nations Charter. Aggression as a means of national advancement is forbidden by the U. N. Charter, of which the Soviet Union and its inheritor Russia are signatories: "All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State," Article 2(4). Russia reaffirmed the independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine both in the 1994 Budapest Memorandum and the 1997 agreement for leasing the Sevastopol naval base. Its invasion of Ukraine is not a territorial dispute, an intervention to protect minority language speakers (the same excuse Hitler used and which the U.N.'s special envoy on human rights implicitly rejected in favor or peaceful, political reforms in the case of Ukraine in 2014) or a national defense measure (despite Russian propaganda, NATO is a voluntary, defensive alliance, which exists only because of Soviet and now Russian aggression). Rather, it is a straight-up war of conquest, right out of the worst of the 19th and 20th centuries, with no legal, moral or defense justification whatsoever. In addition to being immoral, brutal and evil, it is also illegal. If we want to live in a more peaceful world, where disputes are settled at the ballot box or in courts, Russia's attempt to turn back the clock to an earlier imperial era where might makes right must be resisted.

6. Strengthen common defense against aggression

NATO kept the peace and deterred Soviet aggression during the entire Cold War. More recently, it enforced peace and protected minorities in the Balkans, and helped the U.S. - the only country to actually invoke Article 5 - after 9/11. Forty-three Polish soldiers died in Afghanistan and Iraq -whatever you think of those conflicts - giving their lives to protect us. NATO allies did the messy, difficult and deadly work that the U.N. should have been doing, providing for the common defense of democratic, free peoples. A free, strong, and prosperous Ukraine would not only be a rebuke to the tyranny that Russia has succumbed to, but a great aid in defending freedom on its eastern flank, potentially saving untold lives and resources of other democratic allies. No nation has ever resisted Russian aggression of this magnitude with as much success as has Ukraine. Nobody knows how to fight the Russians like Ukrainians. That hard-own experience, technology and resourcefulness would be of incalculable value in preventing war through the only language dictators understand: that of steady, well armed, capable and ready deterrence.

7. Improve food supply for the developing world

Ukraine is a major grain producer, the "breadbasket of Europe" producing 10% of the world's wheat, 15% of its corn and 50% of sunflower oil, much of it destined for developing nations. A secure, stable Ukraine means a secure, stable food supply for some of the most famine-threatened people on earth, and helps to keep global grain prices down to affordable levels, allowing developing countries to actually develop by freeing up resources for investment and improved quality of life. Of course, in times of famine or bad harvests, keeping the world's 7th largest wheat producer producing could mean more than just quality of life, but life itself for millions.

8. Better use of civilian nuclear energy, Ukraine's example

Ukraine is home to both the worst and best of nuclear energy. The 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster at the tail end of the Soviet era illustrated both the profound risks of nuclear energy, and, to the Ukrainian people, the total disregard for their health and safety of their communist leadership, leading to the formation of the Green Party, the first free political party in Ukraine under the Soviets, and contributed to the rising discontent that eventually led to the downfall of the Soviet Union. On the other hand, Ukraine has Europe's largest nuclear energy plant at Zaporizhzhia, currently under Russian occupation and mostly shutdown, but which provided more than a fifth of the country's electricity, carbon free, when operational. Ukraine thus has a lot to offer in experience and expertise with the risks and benefits of nuclear energy, both for climate concerns and to feed the growing demand for energy as the essential ingredient in the global battle against poverty.

9. Build and strengthen allies to help us in time of need

In addition to common defense through NATO, the U.S. could also benefit directly by supporting and learning from the Ukrainian real-world experience of confronting Russia. We can be sure that potential adversaries like China, Iran and North Korea will be learning from the Russians, and if we are to be able to counter, deter and if necessary resist threats from those quarters, we need to learn everything we can from the Ukrainians experience with drones, AI, and what works and doesn't work on the actual modern battlefield. We may find some or our assumptions are completely mistaken, or learn about vulnerabilities or capabilities of which we were totally unaware. Better to learn now and have experienced allies at our side, than to wait for a conflict, or worse, to invite aggression by our neglect of preparedness in ignoring such a valuable ally and resource.

10. Morally right thing to do

In the Budapest Memorandum we promised to aid Ukraine if they came under threat of or actual nuclear attack. They have been attacked - and threatened, as we have, with nuclear "consequences". This is not a partisan issue. This is about our country standing up for core American values: freedom, democracy and the rule of law, keeping our commitments to advance freedom and resist tyranny wherever we can, and keeping our specific promise to Ukraine to aid them. All the false starts and half promises of NATO membership have not helped, but the clarity of NATO membership has kept the other European nations safe, and that, or a equally binding commitment, is needed now for Ukraine, not just for its security, but to fulfill our obligation, not only political, but moral, to Ukraine. As Alexis de Tocqueville wrote in 1838: "America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great." Can we be great if we ignore our commitment to our fellow democracies in their hour of greatest peril? Sadly, we often put partisan or self interest before country until the threat can no longer be ignored. Today, we can no longer afford that luxury, and must support democracies before they are destroyed and subsumed by totalitarians, both out of self-interest enlightened by the "Never again" hard won experience of greatest generation, and a moral commitment to stand up for what's right and defend democratic values while we still can.

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